Neo Future
by SoA
Summary: Sailor Cosmos awakens the Neo Senshi to assist her in the battles in the future. As they travel slowly through time they are unknowingly followed by villians from the future as well.
1. Episode 1

The Future In Need! The Neo Senshi Called Upon.

An elegant white-clad figure strode firmly into the throne room. She did not pause for the guards, but they bowed to her. She held her chin high and her long white hair and white cape flowed behind her. Her high-heeled shoes and staff clicked on the marble floor as she glided to the thrones. When she reached them, she bowed her head slightly, even though it wasn't necessary.

On the four thrones before her sat two couples. The foremost and ruling couple consisted of the young pink-haired queen and her white-haired king who had a golden horn on his head. The second, older, couple was the retired queen and king.

"Serenity, Endymion, Young Serenity, Helios," the majestic visitor began, "I have come to you because of the great need that has befallen our future. Chaos has been reborn, and it is threatening to destroy Sagittarius Zero Star. My soldiers and I cannot face it alone, so I have come to you with a request."

Endymion's face was grave. "You never were the bearer of good news, Cosmos."

Old Serenity's was just as worried. "What is this request?"

"We need to train reinforcements that will know me and trust my leadership."

"How do plan to accomplish that?" Helios asked.

"Endymion, Serenity, Young Serenity, do you remember my younger self, Chibi-Chibi?"

They all nodded.

"I will create her again. Her memory will only span to just before she changed into me. She will lead the new reinforcements. She will grow very rapidly, changing in stages. She will keep changing until she is exactly like me. At that point, I will meet up with her and she will cease to exist, and I will be their leader in this great war against Chaos."

"Wouldn't that be a little cruel to her?" the young queen asked.

"No. She is part of me. I know this is right," Cosmos answered firmly. "Now I must request my reinforcements."

"Who might they be?" Helios asked.

"The inheritors of the planet powers as well as the quartet and trio powers," she answered calmly.

"All of them!" Serenity gasped.

Sailor Cosmos nodded. "With you permission…"

"If you must…" Serenity trailed away.

Life droned on at Hitotsuban Junior High. The rhythm of life remained the same pattern. The weather was always dull and dreary this time of year; nothing special.

Towards the end of the last period of the day, the office secretary's voice came over the loud speaker in chemistry class. "Tsukino Musha, please report to the main office."

A girl with dusty purple hair in a long braid stirred in her desk. "Great," she muttered.

"Musha," the teacher reminded.

Musha reluctantly left her desk. As she walked to the office, she pondered what it could be this time. 1.) She could be in trouble, but she couldn't remember anything she had done wrong recently. 2.) There might be some special occasion at the crystal palace she needed to be present at. She was the young Queen Serenity's cousin. Musha's father was the old queen's brother. 3.) Some more reporters wanted to interview the young queen's cousin.

As she passed through the hallways, one of her classmates exited her classroom and entered the hall. Her name was Meioh Korai. She had short dark hair that shone a slight green color. It was no longer than her curved dagger-like bangs all around her head. She was the class freak. She had weird powers that attacked people when she got mad. No surprise; she was under the care of the senshi of time, Sailor Pluto. Though, rumor had it that she wasn't her real mother: she didn't have real parents, or something freaky like that.

Korai rarely spoke and was almost always depressed. No doubt that she was going to counseling, like she always did at the end of the day.

As they entered the office, the secretary stopped Musha as Korai entered a near-by room.

"Tsukino Musha, your visitor is in that room there." The secretary gestured to the same room that Korai had entered.

Musha sighed in disgust. She was going to be associated with freak Korai. If any of her classmates found out about this, she'd never hear the end of it. She added another possibility to her list. 4.) She was going crazy, so she was starting counseling with Korai.

She entered the small room. Korai and the visitor were seated at a small table. The visitor looked like Musha's grandmother, the old queen. She was wearing a simple black skirt and a white blouse. Her pure white hair was done in two heart-shaped buns and long flowing pigtails coming from each, just like her aunt and cousin.

"Do have a seat Musha, oh and close that door if you please," the beautiful stranger said in an elegant voice.

Musha closed the door and sat down. She gave the stranger a distinct look of mistrust. The she shot another such look at Korai.

"My name is Tsukino Cosmos," she began then turned to Musha, "And yes, I am related to you, but the extent of it is too difficult to explain. Hmm… Where do I start?

"This may hit you a little hard, but I don't know how to explain it otherwise: You both know that you are related to Sailor Senshi. Korai, your mother is Sailor Pluto… leave it to Setsuna, most likely she never told you that. And Musha, your aunt and cousin were both given the title 'Sailor Moon'."

The two 14-year-olds nodded.

Cosmos took a deep breath and sighed. "All along you two were destined to be Sailor Senshi just like them. The heirs of Sailor powers." As the two girls gasped, she dug through her purse until she produced two odd looking pens. One was burgundy and the other violet. Their caps were gold with a sideways oval on top with a circle inside of it. On the circles were the symbols for Pluto and Saturn.

"You, Meioh Korai, are destined to be the next Sailor Pluto, and you, Tsukino Musha, are destined to be Sailor Saturn. If you accept these pens, you will receive the powers of Pluto, and Saturn," Cosmos stated plainly.

Korai reached out for the burgundy Pluto pen. Her hand hovered over it momentarily then she picked it up. "I accept, even though I know that I'll never lead a regular life again. Not that I ever did…"

"Saturn? Shouldn't I be Sailor Moon? I'm related to the queens, not Tomoe Hotaru! Why am I Saturn? I should be the leader, not just one of the outers!"

"Calm down Musha," Cosmos commanded, "Honestly, I don't know why you were chosen by the powers to be Saturn. You simply were. Tomoe Hotaru never had any children and never will. Her powers are the most powerful of all the senshi outside of Sailor Moon. These days, the only Sailor Moons are the Queen and her mother. Young Serenity did have a daughter, but she disappeared… I had to search other times to find a Sailor Moon to lead the Neo Senshi. That's what the two of you are: the first two Neo Senshi."

"I still don't get it," Musha declared.

"No one does," Cosmos sighed. "But I'd be thankful if I were you. If Hotaru had had a child, you would not be a senshi. Now do you accept?"

Musha reluctantly took the violet Saturn pen. "I guess."

"Now," Cosmos stood, "I really need to get going… I expect to see the both of you at Cherry Hill Temple at, say, seven thirty tonight." With that she strode out of the room.

"Now that's abrupt for you," Korai commented.

Musha ignored her and mumbled, "I suppose we should be getting back to our classes."

Korai nodded then the two of them headed back to their classrooms. Musha made a point to keep her distance from Korai. After all, she was still a freak.

"You what?!" the priestess Kumada Rei exclaimed angrily. "I can't believe you Cosmos! Age doesn't do anything, you're still the same Usagi."

"I only thought this would be a good place for a gathering… After all this is where we use to have our Sailor Meetings…" Cosmos answered tentatively.

"Sailor Meetings? This has nothing to do with the Sailor Senshi. You're just hosting a party for some teens at my temple!"

Yuuichirou approached from behind his steaming wife. "Rei-chan, this might actually be a good idea. Hidenka might meet some new friends."

Rei's eyes narrowed. "You never said anything about inviting my daughter to this party did you?"

"I have to ask her first." Cosmos grinned. She walked past the fuming Rei and her husband in search of their daughter. As she passed, Rei noticed a red and gold pen with the Mars symbol on it. She gasped. It was her first transformation pen, she didn't know it even existed any more. "Hidenka," Cosmos called.

"In here!" She replied over the blaring music in her room.

Cosmos glided to the girl's room and watched her execute her dance routine to the music. The girl looked just like her mother. She had short, light red hair that curled under just below her ears. This girl was a star, exactly what her mother had dreamed of.

When Hidenka finished dancing, Cosmos clapped. "Well done, very well done," she praised.

Hidenka straitened up and surveyed the white-haired woman. "Who are you?"

"A friend of your mother's. My name is Tsukino Cosmos, but you can call me Cosmos," She answered sweetly.

"What do you want?"

"Well, I'm having a get together of some girls you age tonight, and I was wondering if you would have time to come."

"Sounds good enough, what's the catch?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Catch?"

"What do you want me to do? Complete strangers don't come up to me and invite me to parties without wanting something first."

Cosmos sighed. "I suppose there is one. You're much wiser than the rest…" She cleared her throat. "To make a long story short, as I can see you are busy practicing for your next production, your mother was Sailor Mars, thus you are destined to be Sailor Mars also." She retrieved the transformation pen from her purse. "If you accept this, you will inherit the powers of Mars."

Hidenka daintily plucked the pen from Cosmos's hand, the grasped it tightly and hugged it. "Can this really be true? I'd always hoped…" she asked excitedly in disbelief.

Cosmos nodded then grinned. "So have you made up your mind weather you will come to the Sailor gathering tonight?"

"Yes, of course! Where is it?"

"Right here at your temple." Her grin broadened. "Maybe you can convince your mother to let me have it here… I certainly couldn't."

Hidenka sped out of the room past Cosmos displaying her new pen. Cosmos could hear her yelling to her mother outside, "Mama, Mama! Look what Cosmos-sama gave me! I'll be just like you…"

Cosmos smiled to herself. She had hoped that at least one of them would be as excited as this…

A girl with long fluffy black hair stepped out of her room behind Cosmos. She was Hidenka's younger sister named Shakaku. _Enka-chan is a star and now a senshi_, she thought, _Life isn't fair! I deserve to be something more than to be just little Shakaku, Hidenka's sister._

Cosmos sensed Shakaku's feelings and turned to her. She put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Your time will come Kumada Shakaku. Sooner than you think," She said then turned and left.

Cosmos stood outside of the door to a beautiful house in the countryside. She rang the doorbell once then waited patiently.

"Coming!" A lofty voice answered. Soon a teal-hared woman opened the door. She stepped back in amazement at the sight of her visitor. "Usagi?" she gasped.

"Her future self, yes. I prefer to go by Tsukino Cosmos these days though," Cosmos answered thoughtfully.

"Oh! Cosmos-sama! Come right in! What brings you here?" Michiru asked, stepping aside.

Cosmos glided into the house and into the living room. She immediately made herself right at home on the couch.

Michiru called up the stares, "Haruka-chan, come down here! We have a visitor!"

Haruka came down the stares and Michiru led her into the living room. Michiru sat on the couch next to Cosmos and Haruka sat in a large plush chair across from them.

"Good to see you again Haruka," Cosmos began, "You have a lovely little household here."

"Who are you?" Haruka asked suspiciously, "You seem familiar, but I can't remember. Almost like Usagi…"

"My name is Tsukino Cosmos, and I am Usagi."

Haruka chuckled. "That would explain it wouldn't it?"

"Now what did you come here for?" Michiru asked.

Cosmos took a deep breath and sighed. "It's about your two foster daughters, Kenjou and Asatsuyu. They have somehow inherited your senshi powers. Kenjou, Uranus, and Asatsuyu, Neptune. I'm afraid that they will have to soon leave and go on their own senshi journey… and help save the future. Of course it is their choice alone weather they will or not."

"What! You can't take both of them!" Haruka got to her feet and clenched her fists.

"You haven't changed much Haruka-chan… still just as protective," Cosmos commented. "I'm afraid if they accept it, it is necessary to send them to the future. You must never tell this to anyone, but we are loosing the battle in the future against Chaos. It's destroying Sagittarius Zero Star. We need reinforcements."

"I see the urgency…" Michiru commented thoughtfully. "Why don't you sit down and relax, Haruka?" she cooed.

The tall blond softened and returned to her seat.

"You must remember Tenou Haruka, that they accept this of their own free will. It's their choice," Cosmos continued, "I usually go strait to the children, but since you are so protective of them, and love them so much, I thought I should warn you." She rose from the couch. "I suppose I should be seeing the girls now."

"They should be upstairs." Haruka gestured upward.

"Most likely in Asatsuyu's room…" Michiru added.

Cosmos preformed a slight bow in thanks, then started up the stairs. She found them in Asatsuyu's room, as Michiru had predicted. She entered the room, introduced herself, then produced two pens from her purse: one teal and the other navy blue.

"Like you foster parents, you have the powers in you to become senshi…"

"Back so soon?" Helios asked as Cosmos entered the throne room.

"Actually, I was wondering if anyone had seen Aiyokono Tonda, Ryo Koneko, or Furuhata Teisei around?" Their mothers are here often, so I thought they might be as well." Cosmos got right to the point, as she always did.

"Tonda was heading for her house, Koneko was in the courtyard, and Teisei is at her home with her family," Young Serenity answered without a pause.

"You've done quite a good job as rulers," Cosmos commented, "Now I really must be going." With that, she glided out of the hall.

She went first to the courtyard in search of the water senshi's daughter. Koneko was sitting on a low branch of a sakura tree, her long sea green swaying gently in the breeze. Her face looked much like her mother's did when she was young. Koneko had a much more carefree air about her than her mother had. Ami had a much more intelligent air.

"Ryo Koneko," Cosmos called.

The girl looked up curiously. "Your highness?"

"Oh no, I'm not the queen. My name is Tsukino Cosmos. I'm related to her in an awful complicated way… to hard to explain now… well anyway…" She trailed away.

The girl hopped down from her branch, then walked over to Cosmos. She held out her hand in a friendly gesture. "Nice to meet you."

Cosmos shook Koneko's outstretched hand. "Nice to finally meet you as well. Your mother talks about you a lot. Why don't we sit down so we can chat better?"

"Okay," the light green-haired girl walked over to a nearby red park bench and sat down. Cosmos followed. "So what do you want to talk about?" Koneko asked.

"Well, I can't really talk long, but it is a pretty simple topic. You are to be the next Sailor Mercury," Cosmos said flatly.

Koneko gasped quietly.

"Just as your mother was Sailor Mercury before you, you will take her place in the future. Is this something you would like to do?"

Koneko nodded slowly. "I guess it would be a big responsibility, but I'd really like to be like my mother was when she was young, defending the world against evil…" she trailed off, casting her eyes down. She was silent for a moment then made eye contact with Cosmos again. Determination and vigor shone in her eyes. "I will be Sailor Mercury. I will be strong and fight for good, like I have always dreamed of."

"Determination will get you far," Cosmos commented and fished the true blue henshin pen out of her purse. "This is for you to use when you need to become a senshi. It was your mother's when she first became a Sailor Senshi. Treasure it."

"Thaa-ank you…"Koneko managed to stutter quietly as Cosmos swept out of the courtyard as suddenly and gracefully as she had come.

"ME? A SAILOR!" Aiyokono Tonda yelled. "You mean like my mom? I'll never run around a skirt, much less a skimpy miniskirt and high heels! Go find someone else to be your Sailor Venus! I will most certainly NOT be the person representing and fighting for feminine love and beauty!" Tonda got up and strutted for the door angrily. When she reached for the door handle, she found herself unable to turn it. It was stuck. In her anger, she turned to the side and attempted to kick the door open, but found herself frozen with her foot an inch from the door.

Cosmos grinned slyly to herself.

"What! Why'd you do that?" Tonda fumed. "Let me go right now!"

"If you agree to hear me out, and actually listen, I will," Cosmos named her conditions calmly.

Tonda clenched her teeth and sighed angrily. "Fine," she said in a reluctantly firm tone. Suddenly she could move again. The change caused her topple over onto the floor, cursing. She sat herself in a couch, opposite the white-haired woman.

"Aiyokono Tonda, I know this isn't something you have been always wanting, but the future need _your_ help. I can't just find another. The future of the universe lies in your hands; weather or not you choose to become a senshi. Think of the power you could have. Your powers will be much different than your mother's because you are much different than she was. You will still fight for Venus, however. You have the possibility to be the most powerful senshi on the team," Cosmos temped the pink-haired rebel with everything she could think of.

Tonda pondered for while in silence. "So you're saying that if I don't become part of the team, the future will be overtaken by evil and the senshi can't win? How do you know so much about the future?"

"I have been to the future, that is where I am from. Because I have been there, I know that without you, we will fail."

"We? Are you a senshi too?" Tonda questioned suspiciously.

"Yes."

"Oh… well then, I suppose I will join you. Just don't give me some gaudy high heels," She said triumphantly.

Cosmos felt like hitting herself. Tonda was an extremely good actor. She had already decided that she would join when she sat back down from being frozen. She was just using her position to get the information she wanted. She took the yellow Venus henshin pen from her purse and tossed it at Tonda. "You should be able to figure out how to use it."

"What if I don't?"

"Ask your mother. It was her first henshin pen after all," Cosmos told her. She hated her mother and her 'blond' mannerisms. She hated the way her mother always loved being in the spotlight and always embarrassed her. Tonda needed a reason to have to talk to her mom. It would do them both some good.

Tonda got up and strode to the door them paused. "May I leave now, or are you going to freeze me again?"

"You may leave," Cosmos stated plainly.

As she had suspected, the door swung easily open, as if it had never been jammed. Tsukino Cosmos was much more powerful than she had originally thought. She grinned to herself. _With these new powers, I'll be a powerful as her someday…_

Cosmos stood outside the house of the last neo senshi. She rung the doorbell and she could hear people inside telling the others that they would get it. A familiar face opened the door. Kino Makoto stood in the doorway. Her brown hair was done up in the usual ponytail and she wore a pink and green apron, that told Cosmos that she was cooking.

"Oh! Cosmos-sama!" Makoto bowed slightly in greeting. "What brings you here? Oh, do come inside. I was just making some tea… rosemary tea, in fact. Would you like some?"

The white-haired woman stepped inside the door and Makoto shut it behind her. "I'm sorry I can't stay long Mako-chan, but I have a lot to do in one day. I would really like some tea though. I need to speak with your daughter…" Cosmos trailed away when she saw two nearly identical girls wander up behind their mother. _Drat! _She cursed to herself, _Two of them! And the both have senshi powers… but only one of them can be Jupiter…_ She cleared her throat and began talking again: "I need to speak with both of your daughters."

"That's just fine," Makoto answered, "Teisei, Ure why don't you show this friend of mine to the living room, and I'll go get some tea." The tall brown-haired woman headed for the kitchen as her two green-haired daughters showed Cosmos to the living room.

They entered a cozy room of pink, green, and baby blue. The chairs and sofas were all done in floral prints of pink and green, and plants were scattered about the room. Makoto has one of the most wonderful houses for herself imaginable. The girls planted themselves on a floral sofa and Cosmos on a floral chair. Teisei planted both elbows on the armrest, resting her chin in her hands, and gave Cosmos an expecting look. Her dark green hair, darker than her sisters, was in a ponytail like her mother's, however it was shorter. Ure was sitting daintily on the couch with her hands in folded her lap and a shy and curious expression on her face. Her long hair was deep green and held up by a mint green bow. The style was much like Minako's in her younger years. "Well?" Teisei asked.

"You both know that your mother was a Sailor Senshi know as Sailor Jupiter. You both have…" Cosmos began but was interrupted by Makoto bustling into the room with a tea and cakes on a tray.

"Oh! I hope I'm not bothering you, but I brought the rosemary tea," She said as she put her tray down on the coffee table between the couch and chair where the girls and Cosmos sat. She sat herself in a near by chair. "Here's the cream and the sugar," She gestured to each, "And here these are raspberry-lemon tortes, my own recipe."

Each of the girls snatched a torte greedily. "Mom makes the best tortes!" Ure managed to say through a mouth-full of pink pastry.

"Mmhmm!" Teisei agreed, nodding and stuffing another round miniature cake into her mouth.

"Girls!" Makoto scolded, "Your manners! We have a visitor who has come to see you."

Guilty looks crossed the twins' faces.

"Oh, that's alright," Cosmos said calmly, "I was worse then even they when I was their age. Don't you remember Mako-chan?" She smiled sweetly and poured some of the tea into a rose-print cup then took a dainty sip.

Makoto sighed. "I suppose you're right… Ami was the only one with truly good manners of our quintet." She turned to her daughters, "Now listen well to her, she is a very important and busy person. I don't want you wasting her time." Makoto stood as the two green-haired girls nodded. She picked up a torte and placed it in her mouth, then headed back to the kitchen to finish dinner.

Ure swallowed her food then asked, "What were you going to tell us just before mother came in?"

Cosmos thought for a moment. "As your mother was Sailor Jupiter, you both have the powers of a senshi, however I have only come for one of you."

"Really!" Ure asked.

"But which one of us?" Teisei suddenly got the catch.

"Yes, really. And, I'm not sure. Only the power inside of you can decide." The beautiful woman produced the green Jupiter pen from her purse and placed it on the table.

"What's that for?" Teisei asked. Something inside her itched to reach out and grab it.

"It will help us decide which one of you I need right now," Cosmos stated. She flung it into the air. It spiraled upward, but as it began to fall, it disappeared in a small puff of green smoke.

Teisei stood up furiously, "What did you do that for?"

_She's the one…_ "Do calm down Furuhata Teisei! And please sit," Cosmos said and gave Teisei a stern look.

Teisei sighed rebelliously and sat back down.

"Now listen carefully," Cosmos commanded, "This will take perfection and utmost concentration from you two for it to work." She paused and let her statements sink in. "Both of you stand."

The girls did so.

"Now, you must concentrate very hard. Draw from your senshi power deep within you. You must command your henshin pens to appear in your hand, which you are going to hold out now."

The girls each held out their hands: Ure, her right and Teisei, her left. Both closed their eye and lowered their heads as if they were looking at their hands. Shortly, electric green light erupted in Teisei's outstretched left hand. The green quickly turned to orange then diminished, revealing the green Jupiter pen. Teisei opened her eyes and stared down at the green and gold pen in awe. About thirty seconds later, intense green light erupted from Ure's hand and illuminated the room with dancing green light. Her eyes flew open and she stood awestruck at her power. The light faded slowly, and the tree watched in absolute silence. Ure's pen looked exactly like Sailor Jupiter's second pen, except that it had a leaf for a symbol on it instead of the 4 of Jupiter. The twins sunk slowly back to the couch.

"Now I know which one of you I need," Cosmos said bluntly. "Teisei, you have received the planet powers of Jupiter. Your senshi identity is Neo Sailor Jupiter. I will need to see you at the Cherry Hill Temple at 7:30 tonight." She took one last sip of her tea and got up to leave. She glided gracefully to the door. As she was about to step outside, Ure stopped her.

"Wait!" Ure cried after the beautiful white-haired woman. "What about me? What powers do I have? What is my senshi name?"

Cosmos stopped, and only turned her head to the side, not looking directly at the distraught girl. "To be honest with you, I don't know. Your time will come, and you will know when that is." With that, she turned and left the house, closing the door behind her.


	2. Episode 2

An Overlooked Senshi? Training Begins.

Cosmos, we need you here in the future. You are the most powerful of all of us, and our leader. We need you here fighting, perhaps one of us can train them… we do need them as soon as possible.

_I'm sorry Eternity, my friend, but I must stay until the end of today. Then I will return. Who is willing to take my place?_

_I will._

_Good. Eternity will transport you here tonight… at sunset. Then I will rejoin the rest in the battle at the Calderon. Thank you Sailor Aqua. _

_It is nothing. You are needed at the front more that I am. I will train them well._

"_Sorry_ Shakaku, but you're not invited. Only Sailor Senshi are, and you're not a Sailor Senshi!" Hidenka replied to her younger sister angrily. Hidenka's short temper got the better of her often when she was at home, but never when she was at school. She always maintained her cool demeanor when she was out.

"Tsukino-sama never said I couldn't come! She even said that my time will come soon, and I can only see that as that I am a Sailor Senshi too! I can come if want to!" Shakaku yelled at her sister, even though she was only a foot away. She toyed with hitting Hidenka with the stick broom she had been using to sweep in front of the shrine, but decided against it. Her mother would ground her for sure and that would mean she couldn't go to the meeting anyway.

"No you can't! It's for Sailor Senshi!" Hidenka roared.

"Yes I can! This is my home too!" Shakaku roared back, despite her quiet voice.

"No!"

"Yes I am!"

"No you're not!"

"Tisk, tisk, arguing won't get you anywhere. What seems to be the problem? Perhaps I could help you settle it," A sweetly calm voice interrupted their argument.

The two girls stopped their arguing abruptly: startled by their visitor's silent arrival. Hidenka and Shakaku turned slowly to face a regal figure. She wore a long, black, pleated skirt and an elegant white blouse. Her extreme white hair was done in two long pigtails with small heart-shaped buns at the top.

"Tsukino-sama!" the sisters chorused together.

Shakaku noticed a small girl, about four or five, hiding timidly behind Cosmos' long black skirt. She had striking blue eyes, the same color as Cosmos'. Her hair was a dark pinkish-red; done in a style exactly like Cosmos', except her pigtails were only as long as her ears. Overall the girl had a striking resemblance to Cosmos. "Who's that? Your daughter?" Shakaku asked.

"Oh!" she ushered the girl around to stand, as timidly as before in front of her, "This is Tsukino Chibi. She's not really my daughter… She will be the leader of the Neo Senshi: Neo Sailor Moon."

"A five-year-old!" Hidenka laughed, "She couldn't lead a group of senshi if she wanted to!"

Silent tears welled up in Chibi's vivid blue eyes and her lips began to tremble.

Shakaku gasped, "Now look what you did Enka! Apologize now!"

A look of regret shot across Hidenka's face. She kneeled down to Chibi's level, her red and white priestess robes flowing out as she did. She clasped one of Chibi's small hands gently between both of hers. "Look, I'm really sorry, Chibi-san. I shouldn't have said what I did. I'm sure you will make a great leader; otherwise Cosmos-sama wouldn't have picked you. And I'm sure you will prove that to me when I get to know you."

The small pink-haired child sniffed and wiped her nose with her free hand. "That's okay…" she answered in a small, timid voice.

Hidenka locked eyes with Chibi for a moment more, and then stood up to face Cosmos and her sister.

"Now what were you two arguing about as I came?" Cosmos asked calmly.

"Well…" Shakaku started.

"Shaka wanted to come to the meeting too, but I told her she couldn't, yet she insisted that she should be able to. She said something about you saying something that meant that she was probably a senshi too," Hidenka answered, speaking so quickly that her sentences blended together.

"Oh, if that's all… Well, I'm afraid that Shakaku cannot attend. Some of the information that we will discuss should not be known by anyone other that the Neo Senshi," Cosmos said apprehensively. She was not sure what sort of reaction she would get from the sisters.

"So that means I'm not a senshi," Shakaku asked, dejected.

"That answer will come in time. It is not mine to give," Cosmos answered.

"You don't care about anyone else but your _Neo Senshi_! You don't ever want to give me a strait answer! Never! I hate you!" She yelled as tears started streaming down her face. The young priestess flung her broom at the ground near Cosmos' feet then turned and ran to the door of the temple in a flurry of red, white, and the extremely dark red of her hair. She disappeared, sobbing, inside.

A regretful look crossed Cosmos' face. She wished that she could help the young girl, but she new nothing of her powers. She may be prettier, more proper, older, and more graceful, but she was still the same Usagi: reckless, acting without thinking.

Hidenka looked satisfied, "She didn't take that well did she." She grinned at Cosmos who picked up the broom solemnly.

"Do me a favor, and pick up where your sister left off," She passed the broom to Hidenka then walked to the open door of the shrine and went inside.

Chibi stood where she was and looked curiously up at Hidenka. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kumada Hidenka," she said sweetly, trying to make up for what she had said earlier.

"Okay," the small child nodded then paused to think for a minute as Hidenka started sweeping nearby. "When are they coming?"

The beautiful red-haired girl looked over her shoulder. "Any time now…" She attempted to use her priestess's powers of sensing presences to see who would come first, even though she knew she would probably fail. She sensed a glimmer of something nearby. _It worked!_ "Someone is really close… I _think_…"

"Oh." She said in her tiny voice. _A priestess_.

Not a moment later, they heard a car roar to a stop at the foot of the shrine steps, some talking, two doors slam, and the screech of tires as the red convertible drove away.

Rei and Cosmos were standing in the doorway. Rei was shaking her head and Cosmos was chuckling. "That would be Haruka," Cosmos said softly then announced to Rei, "Which means that Tenou Kenjou and Asatsuyu are her.

Sure enough, the two sisters came into view, up the steps, in a few seconds. Asatsuyu was first, bounding up the stairs cheerfully. Her short light gray-brown hair was tied in a loose, low ponytail as she always had it, her deep blue eyes dancing with anticipation. She still wore her Mugen Gakuen uniform of green and burgundy. Her older sister, Kenjou, followed her more calmly up the white stone stairs, taking each step calmly and gracefully. Her face was blank of most expression. Only a look of skepticism shone through. Her deep blue eyes, the same as her sisters, looked apprehensive yet curious. She was also wearing the plaid Mugen Gakuen skirt and blouse. Her blonde hair was down as it normally was. Her bangs were in two long, gently curving bunches and her hair was thin, wrapping around her head like a piece of cloth.

"Who are they?" Chibi tugged at Hidenka's red priestess pants.

"I'm not sure…" Hidenka answered, not looking down. She stared at the sisters that were coming up the path. _I can't believe it. I just barely sensed it! Two senshi, plus whoever gave them a ride. That makes one or two more. I just barely sensed it!_ She reprimanded herself. As she stared she noticed something about the calm blonde girl, _There's a lot of pain in those eyes. I can sense that… and see it. I wonder why._

Asatsuyu bounced over to Hidenka and Chibi. "Ohayou! I'm Tenou Asatsuyu. I'm supposed to be Neo Neptune. What are your names?" she chattered absently.

"Well…" Hidenka stuttered, breaking out of her trance, "I'm…"

"Oh! You're Priestess Hino-san's daughter. And Sailor Mars?" She interrupted, not giving Hidenka time to answer.

"Well, yes, my name is Kumada Hidenka. I'm her eldest daughter. I…" Asasuyu cut her off again.

"Who are you now?" She asked the pink-haired child.

"Tsukino Chibi," was her simple and quiet answer.

"Nice to meet you! You're such a kawaii little kid! Why are you here? Are you Cosmo-san's daughter or something?" She asked, her high voice speaking rapidly.

"No I'm not. I'm the next Sailor Moon," she said firmly but quietly. She resisted crying. This girl was a flake that didn't know anything.

By this time, Kenjou had reached the grouping of girls.

"Oh! This is my sister, Kenjou!" She added cheerfully, "And these are Kumada Hidenka and Tsukino Chibi. They're supposed to be Neo Sailors Mars and Moon. Isn't Chibi so kawaii?" her eyes danced with enthusiasm.

A large drop of sweat slid down the back of Kenjou's head and she sighed. She nodded to Hidenka and Chibi, then mumbled, "Nice to meet you…" and stood back away from them. She had done her social part for now. Her anti-people tendency was more than made up for by her younger sister's talkativeness.

"We probably should…" Hidenka was cut off _again_. This was making her a little frustrated.

"I remember where I've seen you before!" the petite brown-haired girl exclaimed, "You were in that really cool movie that was just out, _Ai Uta_! You were the lead girl! The guy you fell in love with was _sooo_ cute! You are so lucky!"

"Errr… I guess. I work really…"

"Have you seen the other movies he's in? I just love him!"

"SHUT UP! WOULD YOU?" Hidenka finally roared.

Asatsuyu flinched and tried to muster up some tears to make Hidenka feel bad, with no avail.

Rei poked her head out the door to make sure her daughter's temper wouldn't cause her to attack her guests. Seeing that all was safe, she went back to talking with Cosmos and getting the shrine ready for the meeting.

"Umm…" a sweet voice began, "Am I in the right place?" Koneko stood to the side of Asatsuyu and Hidenka. She had been there for a while, but only Chibi had noticed her until then. "I mean, I'm pretty sure this is the right place… Cosmos-sama invited me…"

"You're in the right place," Kenjou said firmly, ending her nervous talking.

She sighed in relief. "Good. I really hate getting wrong addresses. I'm Ryo Koneko… Who are you?"

The other girls arrived shortly after. Teisei was first, Musha next, then Korai, and finally Tonda, who was thirty minutes late.

They all settled into the shrine's living room where the first senshi had held their study sessions every day after school. Cosmos sighed, remembering the days of her simple life and innocence, where she would come up with as many excuses as she could to get out of study group. _Those were the days_, she thought, _those were the days…_

All of the girls were chattering with each other, anxious to find out who had which powers; all except Tonda, Kenjou, and Korai, whom had each selected a corner of the small room to sit in.

Cosmos sat up straight. "Well, we better get started. Now, everyone scoot in closer. You'll be working with each other as a _team_ from now on, so you should get rid of any grudges you have on each other," Cosmos stated and the three girls in the corners reluctantly moved inwards.

She started again once everyone was situated, "In the future, the most important place in the universe is being attacked. It is called Sagittarius Zero Star. I'm sure at least most of you have heard about this in school, but I am going to refresh your memories and clarify. Before the beautiful Crystal Tokyo that you live in was built, Golden Queen Galaxia sent her Sailor Animemates to gather the all of the golden starseeds in the universe. She set her base in Sagittarius Zero Star, the place where starseeds come from and go back to when you die. Long before even this, Galaxia was good and sealed Chaos in herself to save the universe from it. When Galaxia was purified by the ginzuishou, Chaos was released and was put at peace. We thought that would have been the end of it, unfortunately, it was not.

"In the future, where I have come from, we discovered it awakening in the Calderon of Starseeds, which is on Sagittarius Zero Star. It turned on the first thing it could: the Calderon. We have been fighting as hard as we can, now, to keep it from swallowing the birthplace of starseeds. It is so urgent, because if the Calderon is destroyed, the shining star in everyone will die out, and those privileged enough to be holders of golden starseeds will never be reborn. All in all, this means you would be the last senshi and would never be reborn, the world would loose its flare, and, ultimately, Chaos would plunge the universe into darkness, destroying everything good."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Musha asked skeptically, "Leap into the future and kick some Chaos butt? We're not that powerful to turn a battle around."

"You're right about that," Cosmos replied, "You need to train first. You need to know how to work as a team."

"So when do we get to join the fight at the Calderon?" Teisei asked.

"In about…" Cosmos pondered, "A month."

"A month!" Tonda exclaimed, "How do you expect us to learn so fast?"

"Time travel. The farther away from your home time you get, the more powerful you will become and the less you will have to cling to. Don't ask me how it works, Sailor Eternity assured me it does," Cosmos said.

"So when do we start training?" Korai asked flatly.

"Now, if that's alright with you," Cosmos smiled.

"That sounds good to me!" Tonda leapt up. "Venus Power, Makeup!"

Cosmos smiled, _so Tonda did go talk to her mother after all…_

Everyone else got the idea, and scrambled to find their pens and not to be the lat one transformed.

"Mars Power, Makeup!"

"Jupiter Power, Makeup!"

"Saturn Power, Makeup!"

"Mercury Power, Makeup!"

"Neptune Power, Makeup!"

"Uranus Power, Makeup!"

"Pluto Power, Makeup!"

Cosmos waited for the final call as each of the girls was shrouded in her color of light.

"Moon Power, Makeup!"

When the spectrum of colors faded, each girl was now transformed into a Sailor Senshi, all in mini-skirts; their fuku was in the first form. Except for Neo Sailor Moon, hers looked almost eternal, even though she could never remember becoming a senshi before.

Tonda, who had become Neo Sailor Venus, had salmon pink bows, glove bands, choker, and boots, which went up to her mid-calf. Her skirt and collar were light orange and her broach and tiara jewel were light yellow.

Neo Sailor Mars had extremely dark red bows and choker. Her collar, glove bands, and skirt were one shade darker than her hair. Her broach, tiara jewel, and spike high-heels were true red, like her mother's had been.

Neo Sailor Jupiter had a magenta collar and skirt. Her tall boots, glove bands, broach, and choker were orange, and her bows were true green.

Neo Sailor Saturn had navy blue bows, shoes, choker, and tiara jewel. Her shoes were short boots with two tall diamond shaped areas cut out in the front of them, one on top of the other. Her skirt and collar, which did not sport any stripes, were a lighter violet color. Her broach was silver and, unlike any of the other senshi, so was her tiara.

Neo Sailor Mercury seemed to enjoy her outfit, from her dusty, navy blue mini-skirt, collar, and glove bands to her similarly colored low-heeled shoes. Her bows were sea foam green and so was her choker. Her broach and tiara jewel were periwinkle blue. It was plain that she was the senshi of water and ice.

Neo Sailor Neptune looked much like her foster mother in her senshi fuku. Her stripe-less collar, skirt, choker, and short boots were teal blue. Her bows and glove bands were a bright spring green in color. Her large round earrings, tiara jewel, and broach were bright cyan. During her transformation, her hair had been let down to reveal that it hung a few inches below her shoulder. She also looked like a water senshi.

Neo Sailor Uranus could have easily been the first Sailor Uranus by her looks. She stood boldly; her height and blonde hair made her look more like her foster parent than ever. Her skirt, her collar without any stripes, and glove bands were neon yellow. Her bows and choker were pale blue, and her broach, tiara jewel, and spike high-heels were navy blue.

Neo Sailor Pluto stood unsure of what to do. Her skirt, glove bands, stripe-less collar, and tall boots were extremely dark blue that looked, at a distance, black. Her bows and choker were dark green and her broach and tiara jewel were turquoise.

By the time Neo Sailor Moon had finished transforming, all eyes were on her. Her heart-shaped buns each sported a powder pink hear-shaped jewel with gold around the edge. Her golden tiara had a small, powder-pink, heart-shaped jewel on it. Her earrings were exactly like her tiara jewel. Her bows, the back bow was as long as the other senshi's would have been in their super form, were the same reddish-pink color as her hair. Her choker was the same color and had a powder-pink heart charm on it. Her skirt, which was the same style as the other senshi's, and her collar, which was without stripes, were sky blue. The only special thing about her skirt was it had two ridges above it, the highest was golden yellow and the one closest to the skirt was reddish-pink. Her bodice had white eternal sleeves with two colored bands around the bottom of each. The bottom-most was golden yellow and the other was reddish-pink. Her gloves were just below elbow length and had two glove bands. The lowest was reddish-pink and the top was golden yellow. Lastly, she had tall white boots that were pointed at the top. The stripe around the top was reddish-pink and there was a powder-pink heart-shaped charm on it.

"So you _are_ Neo Sailor Moon," Sailor Saturn said. She still felt that she should have had that role.

"Now it's my turn, I guess," Cosmos said quietly.

"What?" Mercury, who was standing nearest to her, asked, surprised.

"Cosmos Moon Universe Power, Makeup!" White and golden light shrouded her. As it swirled around her she grew wings. The light swelled around her body, giving her her bodice and skirt in an explosion of rainbow colors. A cape sprouted from her back and high-heeled shoes appeared with a flash of light. A star appeared on her forehead, and circular jewels on her heart-shaped buns. Lastly her broach appeared, large and round with and star in the middle and wings sprouting from either side. Her winds faded and a delicate looking staff appeared in her outstretched hand. On the top was a sphere looking much like her broach.

She sighed, "Now that that's is over, let's get outside, and we'll start your training."

"You're a senshi!"

"What's your name?"

"I am Sailor Cosmos," she beckoned to the door, "Now let's get going outside."

"Then Tsukino Cosmos can't be your real name, what is it?" Saturn stood firmly where she was as the others filed out of the shrine.

"If I told you it would get in the way of your training, when the war is over, then I will tell you," Sailor Cosmos answered and went outside.

"… Above all, you must work as a team to defeat them," Cosmos stated, the girls were lined up behind the shrine, listening attentively. Unnoticed to all of them, a shadow moved about on the shrine's roof. "I am not sure how many there will be, what their weaknesses are, or even what they are, other than _nobakas_, spawns of Chaos. These are real. They will be taken from the future and placed here in beautiful Crystal Tokyo. You must restore it to peace and get rid of every one of them, even if it takes days." _Or weeks_, she said to herself, recalling the endless supply of _yomas_ that had been unleashed on Tokyo just before Galaxia made her first move on Earth. "By the time you finish, I will be gone, and Sailor Aqua will be here to train you in my place. This is the beginning of the most rigorous time of your life you will ever have. I will say 'good bye' to all of you now, and good luck."

"I wish you didn't have to go," Mercury said sadly.

"Ahh, but I do," the beautiful senshi replied, "They need me in the battle in the future. Do tell the Serenitys that I will miss them. Now I will summon the _nobakas_, and you can start." _Eternity?_

_Yes?_

_Could you send over the _nobakas_?_

_With pleasure._

_How many?_

_About thirty or forty, all of them that we are fighting now. Some of them are injured already._

_Good._

_Would you like them right now?_

_Yes._

_This is a great favor to us, you know. It gives us a short break, to rest and get a decent meal._

_I know. You will get your time of rest here._

_I am last on the list you know._

_Yes I do… oh and send Aqua to where I am as well, shortly after. Aqua? Are you ready to come?_

_Yes. Whenever it is necessary._

_Good. I will see you both soon. I call you when I need to come._

Dark light energy flashed across the crystalline skyline. "They're here," Mars said calmly. She barely could disguise the excitement in her voice. She _had_ sensed the evil, and she was going to fight it.

Shakaku hurried out of the house, looking around frantically for what was wrong. She was greeted with silence.

The neo senshi fidgeted, all of them anxious for a chance to fight the new enemy.

"You may begin," Cosmos said plainly.

"Alright!" Saturn exclaimed, and then summoned her long silver sward with two dark sapphires on each side of the hilt. She leaped powerfully far with her powers as a senshi, effortlessly, in the direction of the Crystal Palace. She spoke not a word to any of the other senshi.

"Wait!" Neo called after her.

Uranus grabbed her younger sister's arm. "C'mon Neptune!" Neptune tried to protest for a moment, then ran across the yard with her sister, down the steps, and along to road to main Tokyo.

"Wait!" Neo Moon called after them.

"I'm going down-town!" Venus announced and started running through the woods.

"I'm coming to!" Mars declared and followed.

"Wait!" Neo Moon called again, louder this time.

The three other remaining senshi stood still, waiting.

"We're supposed to work as a team!" Neo Moon cried, close to tears, "I'm supposed to be the leader! They won't listen to me!"

"We're listening," Mercury cooed quietly.

Jupiter and Pluto nodded.

"There aren't many of us, but we have to work together to get the others to work together," the tiny senshi started, "We need to send someone after each group. I want to go strait to the Crystal Palace and defend it, I believe that Saturn was going in that direction."

"You're the leader, so that's a good idea," Pluto agreed.

"Two should go after Venus and Mars, because they won't follow what each other does, from what I have seen of them," Neo Moon concluded in her tiny, quiet voice.

"I will," Jupiter volunteered.

"And so will I," Pluto offered.

"Okay."

"That means I'll go after Neptune and Uranus. They are sisters, so they should stick together," Mercury was confident.

"Jupiter and Pluto, you and Venus and Mars should try and figure out how many and where the _nobakas_ are. I will defend the Crystal Palace with Saturn. Mercury, you and Uranus and Neptune, should patrol the edges of the city to make sure none get out. Mars is the most valuable person right now, she is a priestess and can sense where they are," their leader instructed them as Cosmos watched, forgotten, from the shadows.

"But just one person isn't enough," Pluto said, "To find all of the _nobakas_ in a decent amount of time, we can't just leave that to her!"

"We'll have to," Jupiter argued.

"No! You won't!" Shakaku rushed over to them from where she had been standing. She figured out what was going on from hearing what they said. Her mother, who had been standing in the doorway, and equally disturbed by the evil, had told her it was minions of darkness. "I'm just as good or better at sensing things. I can help you! Just let me!"

"You're not a senshi, I'm sorry, but you might get in the way or hold us back," Neo Moon apologies, "You wouldn't be able to defend yourself."

"I wouldn't! And I can defend myself," she declared and produced an ufda scroll.

"We do need the help…" Mercury reminded her companions timidly.

"I guess," The pink-haired child finally agreed. "You will go with Jupiter and Pluto. An you two, make sure not to leave her behind."

They nodded.

"Then, let's go!"

They all bounded off in various directions. Shakaku was running as hard and fast as she could in her priestess sandals and red and white flowing outfit. Soon they all disappeared out of site.

Cosmos moved out into the open. _Eternity, you may send Aqua over now._

_I'm ready_, she heard Sailor Aqua's voice sound in her head.

_Good_, Eternity answered. Cosmos sensed power surging through Sailor Eternity as she sent Aqua into the past, or the present for Cosmos.

A few moments later, a pale blue haired and clad figure appeared in the temple yard in front of her. Her fuku was much like Cosmos'. The differences were that hers was mainly pale blue and whitish-silver with touches of true blue. On her broach was a true blue water drop instead of a star and a drop instead of a star on her forehead as well. The two friends embraced.

"It's good to see you Ami-chan," Cosmos sighed.

"And I you," Sailor Aqua replied, "These days have been long, we did not think we would make it through without you. You must return."

"Yes," she sighed again, "I must. It was good to see you. Enjoy the peace." Cosmos turned to go. _Eternity?_

"Don't go yet," an unfamiliar female voice sounded firmly from the roof.

_Yes?_

"I'd like to have a word with you before you do." The figure leapt from the roof, landing softly in a crouching position on the ground.

Wait… Something just came up… I'll come in just a moment. 

All right.

Cosmos turned to face the girl, and so did Aqua.

She stood then emerged from the shadows. "You made a mistake, oh wise and powerful Cosmos," she said mockingly.

Aqua gasped. The girl was in senshi fuku, and the energy coming from her was good. She had long dark brown hair that shone slightly orange. Her penetrating eyes were a deep grayish-teal color. Her skirt, collar, and glove bands were deep blue and the single stripe on her collar was the same teal as her eyes. Her choker and bows were also that same teal color. Her glassy broach, tiara jewel, and dot earrings were such a pale cyan color they looked almost clear. The most striking thing about her was the gold on her fuku: her tiara was naturally gold, but so were her shoulder bands, the rim around her skirt, and her heeled shoes.

"And what was that?" Cosmos asked in a calm, equally mocking tone.

"You missed one," the girl said flatly.

"And that would be you, I would bet."

"Exactly," She replied. Her eyes danced with a menacing look, "You little team of Neo Senshi is fairing sourly without me. You really couldn't call that teamwork, could you? They need a better leader."

"Sailor Neo Moon _will_ improve, and the _will_ learn to listen to her," Cosmos answered firmly. "And who are you to challenge this?"

The elegant girl laughed. "I was hoping you would ask."

"Well?" Aqua asked.

"I am Neo Sailor Earth, the Second Planet Senshi of our home, Arriving Elegantly!" she declared triumphantly.

"I see," Cosmos said with an un-amused tone, "How did you become a senshi? I possess all of the pens."

"You dropped mine I found it on the school steps today. I saw you drop it, so I followed you until I found out what was going on. I knew it was for me."

"But… there was never as Sailor Earth!" Aqua was confused.

"Yes there was…" Cosmos cut her short.

"Weather there was or not does not matter. It is obvious that this role was meant for you. I honestly didn't know that there would be a Neo Earth, but you proved me wrong. I did make a mistake. The only thing I have to know is who you were before you transformed," Cosmos concluded.

An expression of triumph flickered across her face for an instant but she quickly hid it, "I am called Umino Norikuken, the daughter of Umino Gurio and Osaka Naru, you might know them."

"Naru! Yes, I knew them; your mother was my best friend before I became a senshi and you father was in love with _me_ at the time… Now I really should be going back to the future, and you should be going as well," Cosmos instructed Sailor Neo Earth then called to Sailor Eternity again. _Eternity, take me back._

All right.

Burgundy and black energy swirled around Cosmos. "Good bye," she called to Aqua.

"Good bye!" a few tears built in Aqua's eyes as she bid farewell to her friend.

The energy built. Aqua threw herself into one last embrace with her friend before she left. She felt little beneath her arms and Cosmos dissolved from that time and was transported back to the future. She had only seen her in person once since the battles had started, and she wouldn't see her again until the war was completely over. She knew this would be true. Tears rolled freely down her face as she sunk to the ground sobbing.

Earth paused for a moment, debating weather to comfort the delicate blue senshi, but decided that it was best just to let her cry. She looked back once to see the beautiful priestess, Hino Rei, hurrying over to the sobbing woman as she bounded towards the Crystal Palace, where she could be of most use.


	3. Episode 3

The Fight Continues. The Sailor Team Still in Pieces.

"Highness," the brunet figure said, "Our spies have confirmed your theories."

"Good," the malicious voice echoed throughout the hall, "How so? What are the findings?"

A blond snickered, "Garnet knows nothing. I am in charge of the spies. I could tell you better than she."

"Silence Sulfir!" the voice boomed, "It is from Garnet I wish to hear."

After a short pause the red clad warrior began, "They _are_ sending one of their top soldiers," she paused and added smugly, "A Sailor Senshi, to the past to train reinforcements. They are weak because they are short one warrior. Cosmos just returned and Aqua left to take her place. The spies also tell me that the white moon's leader is very drained and weak. Sailor Blaze will take the next shift in," she finished with a grin.

"We will have to do something about these reinforcements," the voice of Chaos boomed.

"May I voice my opinion, Highness?" the pink-haired warrior asked.

"You may, Tourmaline."

"Thank you," she said graciously in a precise voice, "I believe that we should send a select group with Blaze when they send her over. Then that group can destroy the reinforcements and possibly retrieve the Silver Imperium Crystal from that time. Without it, they cannot win."

"Excellent suggestion," the dark figure said, "Who should go?" Chaos pondered, "Tourmaline, yes, I need to get Sulfir out of my sight, so you are going as well. Garnet will stay here. Peridot, you stay as well… Alexandrite… hmmm… you are a good choice. Topaz, you stay. Quartz… hmm… I believe that Amethyst is the best choice for this one. Lapis, Lazuli, you two will accompany they as well. Hematite, Apatite, Pyrite, Gypsum, Amber, Feldspar, Olivine, Aquamarine, and Jade, you will all stay as well."

"Yes, Highness!" they all saluted Chaos.

Neo Sailor Mercury tore down the streets of Tokyo. She was like a blue and mint green blur at the speed that her new sailor powers allowed her. She followed her gut instinct as to where to go to find the sisters, Uranus and Neptune.

She heard a scream of terror near by her and stopped running immediately. Several _nobakas _prowled the street and blasted any people nearby. They looked like slightly tangible shadows with glowing yellow eyes. Acting on instinct, the Soldier of Ice rushed forward and yelled, "Mercury Ice Blizzard!"

Ice blasted at the group of monsters and incased several in ice. One, closest to her blast, disappeared with a shriek. The others just shook off the ice and gazed hungrily at the delicate sailor.

Suddenly a shout rang out from one of the stores. "Look! It's a sailor!"

"I don't recognize her."

"Great job!"

"Save us!"

Boosted by the shouts, Neo Sailor Mercury attacked again. "Mercury Ice Blizzard!"

This time majority of the _nobakas_ dodged the blast and those that were hit shook off the ice easily.

A look of panic crossed her face.

The creatures advanced more quickly and more hungrily. One let out a blast of dark energy and another, an instant after.

Mercury shrieked and jumped to dodge them, but was hit by a third blast. She yelped in pain as the blast sent her skidding across the ground. They came closer.

"Neptune Tidal Tsunami!"

A strong wave of water blasted the shadow beings. Two disappeared shrieking while the others were blown back, giving Mercury time and space to get up.

"Hey girl! Looks like you could use some help," A familiar flat voice called. Neo Sailor Uranus jogged up to frail senshi's side. Uranus shot a small grin her and attacked. She was clearly enjoying the fight. "Uranus Blazing Light Beam!" One more _nobaka_ dissolved.

"Thanks girls!" Mercury said happily.

Neo Sailor Neptune stepped up to Mercury's other side. "No problem! It doesn't look like our regular attacks are doing the trick," she said shaking her head.

"We need to combine powers," Uranus commented, "We can't use sailor power because there aren't enough of us. We'll have to combine our powers into one attack."

Neo Mercury nodded. "We should hold hands… and just say what comes to mind. Feed our power together."

"Sounds good to me!" Neo Neptune chattered.

The three senshi joined hands. A dim aura slowly grew around each. Neptune's was cyan, Mercury's was teal-green, and Uranus' was yellow. They merged to a white light and the senshi attacked. "Icy Water Beam!" they yelled. All of the _nobaka_ were hit. All but one dissolved.

Mercury looked around and seeing the lone demon, attacked. "Mercury Ice Blizzard!" It was struck and disappeared.

"Yea!" Neptune exclaimed, "We're getting good at this!"

The green-haired senshi remembered her instructions, "We need to patrol and keep the monsters in the city."

Uranus nodded solemnly and took off running without a word. The other two senshi followed.

Neo Sailor Saturn idly turned her thin, silver sword in the ground. She had been protecting the crystal palace for a long time now and only one _nobaka_ had dared come anywhere near it. Just then she heard someone call from behind her.

"Saturn!" the high voice called.

The tall senshi rolled her eyes and sighed as Neo Sailor Moon appeared, panting beside her.

"What do you want, squirt?" she asked skeptically.

The tiny sailor gave her fellow, who was easily twice the size of her, a sharp glare. "We are the Neo Sailor Team and must work as a _team_. This is my station as well. You don't honestly think that you can defeat a whole pack of _nobakas_ when they come to attack?"

"Actually," she grinned smugly down at her leader, "I think I could. I'm blood related to the queen, and you're not."

The tiny sailor was about to say something when they both heard a fast rustling behind them. Neo Sailor Saturn whirled around her sword ready. Chibi glared into the grass. She felt a tap on her shoulder and whirled back around. In front of her was a tall sailor with long brown hair, was dressed in blue and green with gold accents that neither Neo Saturn of Neo Moon recognized.

"What?" Saturn exclaimed.

"Who?" Neo Moon asked.

The beautiful senshi simply grinned. "I'm Neo Sailor Earth. Born leader of the Neo Senshi," she said smugly.

Both Musha and Chibi gaped angrily at her.

"You most certainly are not!" the purple-haired senshi demanded.

"Of course not!" was the tiny senshi's reply.

She flashed a broad smile and looked up towards the sky. "Think what you like…"

Out of the corner of her eye, the sailor leader saw some dark shadows creeping up the palace steps. "_Nobakas_! They're entering the palace! Let's go!"

The sun was setting as Neo Sailor Jupiter, Pluto, and Shakaku hurried through the streets, still in search of Neo Sailor Venus and Mars. They paused on a street corner and watched the lamps flicker on.

"This is getting really old," Shakaku panted, bending over with her hands resting on her legs, "I keep thinking they're right ahead, then they aren't! Sorry guys."

"That's really all right, Shakaku, It's not your fault," Jupiter responded sweet, alto voice, panting not nearly as hard as the young priestess.

"At least we got rid of nearly twenty _nobaka_ while we looked for them, but I have a feeling that that is only a small dent in the total number of those evil beings around the city," Pluto commented solemnly.

After a bit of silence of panting, two voices, one deep and agitated and the other high and slightly shrill, split the quiet.

"Now look what you've done! You've gotten us lost, and I'm tired!" the shrill voice yelled.

"We have a job to do," the second retorted, her low voice dripping with annoyance, "We have already destroyed plenty of those evil creatures and more keep appearing. We cannot rest until they are all gone."

"Well, Venus, you can keep hunting down those _nobaka_ yourself. I'm going to go home and rest!" she said and they heard some stomping noises coming towards them from a very near alley.

"That's Hidenka!" Shakaku whispered urgently, then hurried off to the mouth of the alley where they had heard them, standing defiantly in her older sister's way.

Neo Sailor Mars appeared from the alley and stopped dead in her tracks, "Shakaku! What are you doing here? Get out of my way!"

"I'm here to help track down the _nobaka_ and you. Priestesses seem to have the advantage in this game," she said firmly, her voice saying that this was no joke, "Since you hurried off so fast without listening to your leader, Neo Sailor Moon, they needed some one with our powers to track down the _nobaka_ most effectively. So we," she gestured to Neo Pluto and Neo Jupiter, "had to find you and Venus and tell you that it is our job, and now yours, to find the creatures in the city and destroy them."

Neo Pluto, who was now standing directly behind Shakaku, called down the alley to Venus, "And don't think that you can go off on your own. We are going to work as a team, and that 'we' includes you."

"I have nothing to argue with that," Neo Sailor Venus said casually, "I just want to rid Crystal Tokyo of these monsters…"

Shakaku's face went blank for a moment, and then she whirled around to look behind her. "A _very_ large group of those creatures is near by," the short priestess said, turning back to the Neo Sailors, "You best prepare yourselves."

Not a minute later, a group of more than forty _nobaka_ surrounded them.

It was dark now, it had been for a while, and Neo Uranus, Neptune, and Mercury had made almost one full circle of the main part of Crystal Tokyo and had destroyed nearly fifty _nobaka_ on their patrols. They had grown stronger in their powers as the night progressed and were now able to destroy more at one time individually as they originally had as a group.

"Neptune Tidal Tsunami!" Neo Neptune yelled and the last of the monsters of the most recent group disintegrated. She paused for a moment and then looked at her two colleagues, "Either of you tired?"

"Nah," Uranus said, grinning while Mercury shook her head. "Let's get back on the move again then!" Uranus exclaimed and broke into a sprint again, the other two girls following shortly.

Neo Venus gulped, "I don't like the looks of this…"

"I agree entirely," Mars replied quietly, glancing around at the huge numbers of shadow-beings.

"What are you waiting for?" Shakaku demanded and rushed forward at one of the nearest _nobaka_. "Akuryo Taisan!" she yelled sending scrolls in all directions, destroying several of the creatures, leaving a considerable hole in the circle, which quickly filled back up with more _nobaka_. The young priestess backed up slowly in alarm.

"She's got the—" Jupiter started but was cut off.

"Pluto Eternal Mists!" Neo Pluto whispered forcefully as Sailor Pluto before her always had. Ebbing mists dripping with magic covered the area making everything hard to see. Several _nobaka_ let out strangled gasps and were destroyed more followed shortly. As long as the mist remained, more would follow.

"Jupiter Thunderbolt Strike!" the short green-haired girl yelled, choosing a random target through the fog.

"Venus Blast of Obsession!"

"Mars Pillars of Fire!"

Several more were destroyed as the mists moved out. That was when the _nobaka_ started retaliating. The battle raged on…

Neo Moon, Earth, and Saturn rushed to the steps of the crystal palace, Saturn cutting down _nobaka_ as they went. When they reached the steps they fought their way up and destroyed any _nobaka_ that dared approach the door.

"Moon Beam Ricochet!"

"Saturn Silver Blast Obliterate!"

"Earth Life Circle!"

They protected the door late into the night, fighting relentlessly as the never-ending flow of _nobaka_ continued…


	4. Episode 4

Keep Trying! Will it Ever be Over?

"Earth Life Circle!" Neo Earth declared for what must have been the fiftieth time then paused to pant out, "I can't hold out any more!"

"Ha!" Saturn retorted and rushed forward to slash down two more shadow creatures.

"Take a break then," Neo Moon suggested then attacked. She was loosing her strength quickly as well. "Moon Beam Ricochet!"

"There isn't an end to them!" Earth shouted in despair and attempted another attack. "Earth Life Circle!"

They couldn't win at this rate…

The circle of _nobaka_ closed in tighter around the four senshi and young priestess.

"We're trapped!" Neo Mars shrieked and attacked a trio that dared to venture close, "Mars Pillars of Fire!"

"And there's more coming for us!" Ure informed her sister, "They are all going for one of two targets: here or the Crystal Palace."

Jupiter's eyes widened in horror, "The _palace!_ And _here?_" She gasped in pain as one of the _nobaka _blasted her in the back with its dark energy. Whirling frantically around she retaliated. "Jupiter Thunderbolt Strike!" The shadow and four near it disappeared with high shrieks.

"Pluto Eternal Mists!" Once again, mists shrouded the area and the _nobaka_ slowly disappeared within the mists.

Venus just barely managed to dodge out of the way of another dark blast. "You'll pay for that!" she growled, "Venus Blast of Obsession!" Shrieks a short distance away in the fog told them that her attack had met its mark.

They took a short break, panting, as the fog cleared, none of the shadows daring to attack through the mists. There was a long pause when it did and the senshi and the _nobaka_ shifted uneasily.

Ure broke the silence with a hushed voice, "All that are coming, are here."

Venus gasped, being the tallest, she could see farthest. The shadow beings stretched in all four directions for at least a block. She pivoted at her waist with her mouth hanging open in horror. "Well girls," she said, attempting a go-for-it attitude, "We're about to have some fun."

Jupiter swallowed hard.

"We've done one and a half laps and seen nothing," Uranus commented in her flat, unemotional voice.

"I say they aren't trying to get out of they city," Neptune suggested.

"Probably the Crystal Palace," Mercury said plainly, stopping mid-step.

The other two senshi stopped also.

"Let's go!" Uranus declared enthusiastically.

Once again, the trio was sprinting off: this time to the most beautiful place in the entire of Crystal Tokyo, the Crystal Palace.

"I'm really worried about this mother," Lady Serenity said, standing defiantly in front of her parents in the throne room, "They're loosing and they can't go on like this forever! Vesta has been watching where the _nobaka_ are and they all seem to be centered on the palace gates and a random junction in the city. She said that we can safely assume that most of the other girls are there. There's only three here and four at the other place, as well as some other girl, who is not a senshi. They need help before they and others in the city are hurt or killed!"

"I—" Queen Serenity started, rather baffled.

"I entirely agree," an elegant senshi dressed entirely in light blue and silver, with fuku much resembling Cosmos', stepped out of the shadows and said firmly, "They need to learn to work as a team and that seems to be accomplished fairly well now. Chibiusa, go get your four soldiers. You will go to the center of activity in the city and aid the new senshi while I defend the palace."

"Yes Sailor Aqua," Lady Serenity nodded. Even as she appeared about 23 years old, she was only 16, and no one was sure exactly what to call her; Lady Serenity, Small Lady, Chibiusa, Serenity Usagi, Princess, Young Serenity, Usagi, Usa, or just plain Serenity were all used. She didn't really have a preference, but they all seemed to formal. Usagi was her true name, but she had known her mother when she was called Usagi and it didn't seem right to take on that name.

As she hurried out of the room, Helios shot her a worried look, but she just smiled sweetly back at him and continued out of the room.

Half way to her destination, Young Usagi met her four senshi guardians, "Ceres! Vesta! Juno! Pallas!" she exclaimed, "I was just coming to get you."

"We know," Pallas giggled, "We always make sure we know what's going on with you, Princess."

The other three giggled as well.

"So what are you waiting for Usa?" Sailor Juno demanded playfully.

"Nothing, I guess," Lady Serenity laughed then raised her right hand in the air and yelled, "Moon Eternal, Makeup!" A flurry of bright pink hearts swirled around her and she was soon Sailor Moon.

"Let's go!" Sailor Vesta declared and the five girls rushed off.

From where she stood in the center of a street intersection amongst the tall buildings of Crystal Tokyo, Furuhata Ure could tell that there were considerably less _nobaka _trapping she and her Sailor Senshi companions where they were. Despite this reassuring thought, there were still nearly eighty of the evil creatures. "Akuryo Taisan!" She yelled, flinging yet another scroll into the masses of writhing shadows. It met its mark and the creature emitted a piercing screech as it dissolved. The young priestess-in-training smiled to herself.

"Ure-chan!" She heard Sailor Mars scream, "Watch out!"

The petite dark-haired girl spun around just in time to be blasted by several _nobaka_ directly in the chest. She screamed in agony, moaned, then collapsed to the ground completely unconscious.

"Ure!" her older sister screamed and rushed over to her side, then turned on the creatures that had hurt Ure with a vengeance, her red eyes flashing with hate. She pulled an unused scroll from her sister's robes and held it out before her. "Mars Phoenix Strike!" she yelled, as she summon her usually pillars, which combined with the ufda scroll into a huge firebird that descended on the _nobaka_ with amazing ferocity. The attack swallowed twelve of the creatures before it died out.

Completely drained, Sailor Mars collapsed to the ground next to her younger sister.

A worried look crossed Jupiter's face, but she didn't have time to pause. "Jupiter Thunderbolt Strike!" she screamed and destroyed three more _nobaka_. They were now down to only three fighters instead of five.

"Venus Blast of Obsession!" Tonda could feel the situation getting much worse. The reality of it had hit her as soon as Ure collapsed. They all could easily die doing this. Sure, there was help someplace in the city, but it might not come in time.

Neo Sailor Pluto was beginning to feel very drained. Her attack was the most effective, but unfortunately the most difficult. She prepared to attack again, knowing she only had a few more times in her, when a chorus of shouts came from overhead:

"Amazon Jungle Arrow!"

There was a blinding flash, many shrieks from the _nobaka_, and almost a fourth of them disappeared.

All eyes turned upward to a balcony two stories up a building. There stood the princess and her four guardians, Sailor Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Juno.

"Looks like you need some help!" Sailor Vesta called brightly then jumped from the balcony and landed next the two Hino girls. Sailor Pallas giggled and jumped down as well, stumbling before she got sturdily on her feet again.

Sailor Chibimoon, followed immediately by Sailor Juno and Sailor Ceres. "Vesta, you cover those two and make sure those beasts don't get too close. Pallas, you cover Pluto. Juno, you can work with Jupiter, and Ceres can take care of Venus," she ordered in a regal tone, princess at heart, then produced a beautiful pink and gold wand featuring a hear and crescent moon at the top, "Moon Glorious Blessing!" Sparkling pink moons shot at the _nobaka_ and a good number of the disappeared.

"Princess!" Sailor Jupiter finally said as she came out of shock.

"Don't just stand there," Sailor Juno said impatiently, "Let's attack! Juno Riotous Cry!"

"Right!" Teisei answered and jumped into action again, "Jupiter Thunderbolt Strike!"

Jupiter's attacks were getting so weak that even the Asteroid senshi was more powerful than she.

Some of the shadows attempted to approach Rei's daughters. Sailor Vest was quick to stop this, "Oh no you don't! Vesta Flames Blaster!"

"Ceres Beauty Bloom!"

"Venus Blast of Obsession!"

"Pluto Eternal Mists!

"Pallas Raining Splash!"

"Moon Glorious Blessing!"

The battle raged on, but this time the senshi had the upper hand. It wouldn't be long until they destroyed all of the creatures.

Amongst the swarming shadows at the front of the Crystal Palace in the distance, Neptune, Uranus, and Mercury could see flashes of silver, violet, pink, blue, blue and green.

"That's them," Neo Sailor Mercury commented as they ran.

"Fore sure!" Neptune giggled.

"I hope we're in time," Uranus said quietly to herself. What the two light-hearted girls didn't see was that there were far too many _nobaka_ for just two-beginner senshi to handle. As they drew closer, it became clear that there were not two, but three senshi defending the door. None of the girls could identify her.

"We're almost there," Neptune panted as the trio scurried past the long pool in front of the palace, their shoes making loud clacking noises on the pavement.

The other two girls said nothing for a few moments. Then a high-pitched shriek rang out across the palace grounds.

Sailor Mercury stopped in her tracks, "Chibi-chan!"

Sailor Saturn and Earth were so wrapped up in their own fighting, they didn't notice when their small leader began to get slower and slower in her reactions. At least they didn't notice until one of the shadow-beings got near enough and blasted her in the back. A handful more descended on the small girl.

"Sailor Moon!" Saturn gasped and slashed her way through the _nobaka_ with her silver Silence Sword and stood over the tiny girl, almost daring any more creatures to get near while Neo Sailor Earth just continued attacking as she had been before. "You coldhearted freak!" She shouted viciously at her companion, still slashing her sword in all directions, "Don't you care that this kid, our leader, was hit and is now unconscious?"

"We've got a job to do," she said coolly then attacked some nearby _nobaka_ as if to make a point, "Earth Life Circle! If one falls, we don't have time to waste worrying about it."

Saturn shot the brunette girl a fierce glare then muttered, "B!" and continued attacking.

Mercury rushed forward. _Chibi's in trouble!_ "Come on!" she called to Neptune and Uranus, "Let's go help them!"

They reached the writhing masses of _nobaka_ in less than a minute and immediately began attacking.

"Mercury Ice Blizzard!"

"Uranus Blazing Light Beam!"

"Neptune Tidal Tsunami!"

Saturn looked suddenly, hearing three familiar voices on the other side of the back of _nobaka_. "Reinforcements!" she cheered, but in her distraction, two _nobaka_ attacked her. With a loud scream, she was blasted against the door. She lost her grip on her wonderful silver blade and it arched through the air and landed among the _nobaka_. She groaned as she slid to the ground and more of the shadow creatures than she could count closed in around her and even more around the fallen Neo Moon. Saturn squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for the worst. A feeling of absolute terror shot through her.

With blinding speed, the _nobaka_ at the back of the pack spun around and surround the trio of newcomers. All of them were eager to get a piece of the fighting. They didn't wait to attack as they usually did, but jumped in blasting dark energy at the senshi.

"Uranus Blazing Light Beam!" Sailor Uranus yelled. She knew they couldn't last long at this rate…


	5. Episode 5

Relief at Last! Time for Many Farewells.

"… I suppose you all can name why you could not defeat all of the _nobaka_ yourselves," Sailor Aqua asked more than stated as the she and the ten younger senshi sat in a large hall somewhere in the middle of the palace done entirely in white marble. She had already been lecturing the ten girls for quite some time now. She began as soon as Chibi, Musha, and Hidenka returned to consciousness. Shakaku was still in the care of the palace nurses.

"Lack of power," Musha suggested, "We aren't very strong yet."

"There were too many?" Asatsuyu asked tentatively.

"Bad leadership," Nori said acidly and both Chibi and Musha shot her vicious glares. All of the other girls had to get acquainted with her while Chibi and Musha recovered. None of them knew there was a Sailor Earth when the battle started.

"No teamwork," Teisei stated plainly. She _knew_ what Aqua-sama wanted her to say.

"Correct Teisei," Aqua praised flatly, "Only three of you nine stayed back and listened to your leader. You even had help from a very good priestess-in-training and you couldn't handle the _nobaka_ summoned for you."

Hidenka paled at the mention of her sister being so strong.

Sailor Aqua ignored her and continued, "Neptune, Uranus, and Mercury were the only ones who truly figured out how to work as a team. I congratulate you three.

"Now you all will practice. Transform first. Inners, pair up and start sparring like Cosmos showed you yesterday afternoon: no attacks. Outers, please come here," she ordered.

Each girl held up her henshin pen and transformed. Then the inners paired up and the outers wandered sleepily over to their mentor. None of the senshi had gotten any sleep for two days; they fought the _nobaka_ all night. Only the three that had been sent unconscious had anything remotely resembling rest.

Neo Mars was quick to pair with Venus and the two girls got into a vicious match of kicking and punching. Sailor Moon and Mercury partnered and worked mostly on agility and defense.

Neo Earth walked casually over to Jupiter and smiled lightly, "Care to be my partner Jupiter-chan?"

Teisei just shrugged wearily. She soon found herself blocking punch after punch from Sailor Earth.

"Sailor Saturn, you aren't need immediately, so you may sit down if you wish," Sailor Aqua said politely, "You three come here."

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto obeyed silently.

The beautiful blue-clad woman concentrated hard for a moment then beckoned hard with both of her hands.

Neo Sailor Saturn watched patiently from her sitting place on the marble floor. Nothing was happening other than the blue-haired senshi making a fool of herself. Then Asatsuyu began screaming at the top of her lungs, Sailor Uranus and Pluto followed in screaming a moment later.

The air sparkled around their chests and a delicate, star-like, red crystal materialized floating in front of each of them. All of their eyes went blank and Neptune collapsed to the floor while the other two remained standing like zombies.

The crystals floated in mid-air for another moment before they began to sparkle and transform. The crystal in front of Korai became a long silver key-like staff that was nearly identical to her mother's. The time staff had a ring-like top with an onyx orb mounted in it. The one floating above Neptune became a twin pair of teal sticks as wide as her wrists and just shorter than her forearms. Each had three rows of three long, diamond-shaped mirrors each on it. Lastly, Kenjou's crystal became and odd pair of golden, bejeweled bladed. They were shaped like crescent moons and were as large as her out scratched hand. A thin chain came from the base of each, which met and joined into a single chain as long as her forearm.

Sailor Aqua looked undisturbed by the scream while all six inners had immediately stopped their sparring to stare in horror at the three limp girls. Sailor Saturn had her hand on the Silence Sword, ready to attack the older senshi if she did anything bad.

The elegant older senshi continued her hard concentration and gestured forward with her hands. The crystals came out of the three weapons and returned to their owners' bodies. Life came back into the girls' faces and Uranus groaned wearily and shook herself. The other two just had looks of extreme confusion on their faces. Each reached out to grab the weapon floating in front of them.

"What on--?" Saturn started and got back to her feet but Sailor Aqua interrupted her.

"Those are your talismans," she explained to the dazed girls, "They have dwelled in you heart crystals until now. Every Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto before you has had a talisman and these are yours. Sailor Pluto, yours is called the Onyx Orb. The top of the time staff is the actual talisman. The staff itself is the traditional weapon of Sailor Pluto. Sailor Neptune, yours are the Aqua Rods. They include mirrors as is the tradition of Sailor Neptune. In time, you will be able to see visions of other places in the mirrors. Sailor Uranus, yours are the Space Blades. In the past, Sailor Uranus has always a blade-like weapon." She paused and gestured for Sailor Saturn to join the other four outer senshi. "The Sailor Senshi of the four outer planets have always each had a mystical weapon, as you four do. Three are talismans and the fourth is an agent of the Silent Apocalypse if used correctly. Pluto and Saturn must always carry their weapons with them because of their immense powers. You other two may summon or dismiss them from your heart crystals any time you need," she explained, "For now, you four will pair up and practice sparring with them. See what you can do with them."

"Neeto!" Sailor Neptune exclaimed and grabbed the arm of her older sister and dragged her off to begin sparring.

"I guess we're partners," Neo Pluto said quietly to Saturn, who just shrugged and got into an offensive stance.

Soon metal was clacking on metal and the outer senshi were sparring furiously as well.

"Time's up girls!" Sailor Aqua called brightly as she strolled among the pairs, evaluating and correcting their moves, "Untransform and go home to say your goodbyes. You must be back here in an hour in senshi fuku, with all the things you'd like to bring with you. You'll have the necessities provided for, but bring a few clothes and any personal things you cannot live without, but you may only have one bag. Meanwhile, I have some people I wish to speak with. I will see you ten girls in an hour." The pale blue clad senshi turned and strode off to the door, leaving the girls to their own devices.

Each quietly powered down and headed for the huge arched doorway as well.

Teisei sauntered over to a very tired looking Chibi and patted her on the head. "Having fun yet?" she asked playfully, "If you want, I could give you a piggy-back-ride to where ever you're going."

The tiny girl giggled, "That's fine. I'm just going to find a room here in the palace and take a nap while you all are seeing your families. My family— isn't here."

"Alright," the green-haired girl nodded and walked away quietly.

"Teisei! Wait!" Norikuken called and hurried up behind her, "Can I walk with you?"

"Sure," Teisei shrugged and the older girl immediately started in on in energetic conversation and the two talked until their paths differed to their own houses.

Korai pushed unlocked the door to her house and pulled it open quietly. "Mom?" she called softly as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "Mom?" she called again and strolled slowly and cautiously around the house as if she was afraid she shouldn't be there. Everything was in perfect order, like Setsuna loved it.

All the lights were out, suggesting that Korai's mother was either sleeping or away. A quick check in her bedroom disproved the first theory.

Crestfallen, Korai wandered into the kitchen to fix herself something to eat before packing. As she pulled out some carrot sticks and dip she noticed a note lying on the counter.

_Korai-chan,_

I'm afraid I have to work late today so I cannot see you when you get home. I heard from the queen that you have a new place in her services. I was worried about you after not seeing you at all since yesterday morning, especially with all of those monsters running about. You will have to tell me where you were and what you were doing to be out all night like that. I'll get home very late tonight; so don't wait up for me. I'll just see you in the morning. I love you Korai.

-Mother 

Korai wanted to cry. She would not get to see her mother at all before she left. Holding back her tears, Korai quickly ate her carrots then went up stairs to pack.

She pulled out a small duffel and began by throwing in two changes of clothes. Next went her stuffed green rag-bunny that she had affectionately named Bunny-san when she was quite a bit younger.

Korai scanned the room for anything else she might want to bring. Her dark eyes fell on a framed picture sitting on her dresser. It was of Korai and her mother, taken a year ago at one of the happy times in her life, which were few. She pulled one of the shirts out of her duffel and hurriedly wrapped it around the picture then placed it back in the bag. Finished, she zipped it up and flopped back on her bed for an hour of rest and lonely solitude.

Tonda snuck quietly into her house and down the hallway to her room, trying to avoid her mother until she was packed, rested, and thinking rationally. She found a small backpack in her closet and started packing things into it. She threw in some clothes and zipped up the bag and a notebook with some pens. She didn't need anything else.

Finished packing, Tonda walked over to her desk and plopped down in her black swivel chair and flipped on her computer. Tonda stretched her fingers a little then began typing an email.

Konnichiwa minna. I'm not going to be around for a while. I just found out about a trip that I will be taking. I don't know how long I'll be gone; it could be a couple days or a couple years. Hopefully I'll see you all again soon. Ja ne for now.

_-Tonda_

She clicked the send button and it went off to all of the people in her address book.

Tonda stared at the unmoving screen for a long time, long enough for the starry screen saver to come on. Then she remembered that she needed to be back at the palace in less than half an hour. She systematically shut down the computer and straightened up her room. Tonda had a feeling that she would not be back for some time.

She picked up her backpack and headed for the door, passing the mirror she saw herself reflected in it and scowled. _I really aught to dye that horrid sugar-pink hair some time._

She walked down the hallway briskly and found her mother flipping through magazines in the living room. Tonda poked her head in the room, "Konnichiwa Mom!"

"Tonda!" Minako put down her magazine and jumped up to give her tall daughter a hug, "I was really worried about you! I know that you're now a Sailor Senshi and all, but that many evil creatures must have been really hard."

Tonda just grinned and shrugged, "It wasn't that bad. And we got lots of practice."

"Practice?" Tonda's brown-haired father asked from behind her in the doorway.

"Dad?" she turned around to see him smiling at her.

"Your mother didn't tell me much about what was going on last night, so I'm very curious," he said.

"Well," she started, "I'm a Sailor Senshi in the service of the queen now. She has decreed that we go to future to help out another group who is a facing a very difficult enemy. We're leaving tonight."

Asai had a rather dumb-struck look on his face, "Really? I mean, I knew Minako was Sailor Venus, but I didn't think any of that stuff was still going on after all of this peace. It never occurred to me that you'd be Sailor Venus too."

Tonda smiled and gave her father a hug, "It occurred to me, but I didn't want it. If it were up to me, I wouldn't be going to the future to fight evildoers in a mini-skirt. I want to stay here, but what the queen says goes."

"Understandable," Asai nodded.

"Anyway, I really should be going," she said and started to back out of the room, "See you guys again, whenever!" With that she hurried out of the house and to the palace. Yes, Tonda liked her parents but dealing too much with them was frustrating. They were both stars, adored, high paid, and knew it.

Her parents watched her go sadly. They knew in their hearts that they would not see her again for a long time.

"Teisei! You can't go!" Ure whined to her twin, "Where would I be without you? You've always been there for me."

"Ure-chan, I don't want to leave my life behind and go to the future," Teisei said quietly, "I don't have a choice in this."

"I could come with you then!" Ure declared.

"No," Teisei sighed and shook her head, "That's not allowed either."

"This isn't fair at all!" Ure cried, tears streaming down her face, then yelled at her sister, "Fine then! Just take your things and go! I don't care!"

Teisei's eyes watered near tears but she bit her lip to keep from crying as well. She grabbed her bag and ran from their room, down the stairs, threw on her shoes, and fled out the door to the Crystal Palace.

Makoto hurried to the front door when she heard it slam, plate of pies still in hand, and shook her head sadly as she saw her daughter sprint down the sidewalk. It wasn't good for either of her girls to part on this note.

"Koneko, where are you going?" Koneko's four-year-old sister, Amiko, asked enthusiastically as she bounced around her sister. The small girl seemed to be almost a carbon copy of her mother at that age, only with slightly darker hair.

"I'm visiting some friends of Cosmos-sama," she answered good-naturedly.

"'Kay!" Koami answered and scurried off as her second sister glided silently into the room.

Junhari was only a year younger than Koneko, but she seemed much more mature. She wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses and had pretty brown hair that reached to her mid-back with light blue highlights. "So you're Sailor Mercury now," Junhari commented in her normal dead-sounding voice, "How far into the future are you going?"

"I don't really know," Koneko shrugged, "I'm a little nervous though."

"I do not blame you," their mother, Ryo Ami, said quietly as she walked into the room, "Being a planet senshi of this system is dangerous business. Take care."

"Thanks Mom," Koneko answered.

"It's too bad your dad is still at work and couldn't say goodbye," Ami said absently.

"I guess I better get going," Koneko stated awkwardly, "Good bye you guys. I love you all!" She headed slowly for the door and left regretfully. She was leaving such a great life behind, it was hard to fathom it.

Asatsuyu skipped to the front door of their house with Kenjou walking with her lethargically long strides. The younger sandy-haired girl pressed the doorbell button. Immediately after the chime sounded inside, the door swung open with their Haruka-papa at the door smiling warmly at the pair of girls.

"It's good to see you two safe and well," the sandy blond woman started in her deep voice and gestured to for her daughters to enter the house. "Michiru and I were worried about you when we sensed so many evil creatures." The girls walked in and Haruka closed the door gently after them.

A beautiful aqua-haired woman swept into the room with a tray full of cocoa mugs. "Asatsuyu! Kenjou! You're home! Here , I've got some hot chocolate," Michiru ushered Haruka and the girls into the kitchen, "Let's sit down and chat a bit over some cocoa."

Asatsuyu giggled and hurried to her favorite seat while Kenjou quietly took her own. After their parents had been seated and she took one prolonged sip on the cocoa, Kenjou began slowly and clearly, "We are to leave for the future this evening."

"What!" Michiru looked shocked.

"No! Haruka spat out the hot chocolate she had been sipping.

"It's true," Asatsuyu said earnestly, "We're supposed to be packed and back at the palace soon. I'm not sure how far in the future we're going, but we'll probably be able to see you then."

"We will watch for you," Michiru said with an attempt, but a failed one, at happiness and clasped on of her partner's hands between both of her own to comfort them both.

"Don't worry Michiru-mama, Haruka-papa," Kenjou reassured them quietly, "I know we will be back."

"Do your best girls," Haruka encouraged softly as she placed her other hand over Michiru's clasped ones. "We will see you when you return."

There was a long, uneasy pause. Kenjou stood and coughed lightly to break the tension and spoke: "We should probably get packed Asatsuyu."

The younger girl nodded and hopped up, then followed her sister up the stairs to pack.

Norikuken smirked to herself as she ascended the short set of stairs to her front door. Her next door neighbor, who was slightly older than her, Manaka Ichirou, came around the corner of his house pushing a lawn mower. He paused, pushing his messy brown hair out of his face and called over the roar of the motor, "You're looking smug Nori-chan! What is it this time?"

She chuckled and yelled back to him, "Her Majesty is sending me on a long training vacation to be one of the princess' soldiers."

Ichirou laughed, not believing the girl's tale, "Congratulations then!" With that, he engaged the mower blades again and continued cutting the grass.

Norikuken ignored him and hurried inside.

"Mother!" she called and her mother scurried into the entry way to meet her.

"Konnichiwa Nori-chan," her mother, Umino Naru, said sweetly.

Pulling off her shoes, she replied, "Konnichiwa Mama! I'm in a bit of a hurry, and I need to tell you something. Father is still at work, ne?"

Her auburn haired mother nodded.

Heading to the dining room and not pausing a moment, she continued, "They you will have to pass this on to him as well."

Naru followed and sat down on a chair opposite of her oldest daughter. "I've been meaning to ask you about what has been going on for a couple days now," she said in a worried tone, "I hope this fills me in at least a little as to what is going on in your life."

"I suppose I owe you that too," Norikuken said thoughtfully, "You know that Tsukino Usagi, now Neo Queen Serenity, was Sailor Moon?"

"Yes," Naru nodded, "I was shocked to find out that my best friend was one of the sailor soldiers that saved me time and time again."

Norikuken nodded absently, "The same Serenity is sending me to the future to train as Sailor Earth."

Her mother looked conflicted, "I'm very proud of you, but— how long will you be gone? When will we see you again?"

"I do not really understand how time travel works, but you might see me some time in the future just as I am now."

Norikuken mother rose from her seat and gave her daughter warm hug, tears coming to her eyes. "Be careful," she whispered into Norikuken's hair.

"I can't believe this Hidenka!" Rei shrieked, "You're giving up your career all for what? The queen says so! Usagi-chan should learn to respect the values of girls before she orders them around!"

"Mother," the young actress said evenly, forcing her temper to stay in check, "I know how much this means to Her Majesty and Cosmos-sama. My participation could make a difference whether the future is won or lost. I can return to my acting when I return."

"What will I tell all the people you already have contracts with?" the priestess demanded.

"Tell them a piece of the truth and let them wonder," she answered fluidly, getting more confident, "'Kumada Hidenka was taken on an urgent assignment for Her Highness, Queen Serenity.' That is _very_ simple and true."

"Just think," a third voice, Shakaku, cit in from the door way, "How long is it going to take before 'Beloved Actress Kumada Hidenka Disappears on Secret Mission' graces the press. Honestly, if you want to get the whole of Japan to know about your mission Hidenka, that's the best way to do it." With her comment finished, the younger girl disappeared down the hall.

"Well?" Rei demanded, turning her attention back to her oldest daughter.

"Mom!" Hidenka finally snapped, "You were Sailor Mars and still are. You're one of Serenity's closest friends and advisors. You'll figure something out. I'm not changing my mind, neither is Serenity, and neither is Cosmos-sama."

"Fine!" Kumada Rei threw up her arms in exasperation and strutted out of the room.

Tsukino Musha wasn't complete sure how to explain her mission and absence to her parents. They must know at least something about Sailor Moon being the queen.

She was barely inside when her mother scolded loudly, "Musha! Where have you been? Your father and I were very worried about you!"

Mush dutifully headed to the kitchen where her mother was busily working on dinner and yelling loudly at her daughter.

"With all those monsters running around, the least you could have done was call and let us know where you were," she continues fluidly, not noticing that her daughter was out of the room. "If you don't have a good explanation, I'll ground you for a month! I know you weren't at the Shinto temple like you said you would be. I called Kumada-san several times and she didn't know where you were."

The petite red-brown-haired woman paused for a deep breath and Musha took the brief moment to start in, "Mother, I'm right here, behind you."

Mika jolted up and turned around to face the violet-haired teen. "So you are," she answered in a low but dangerous voice. "Well?"

"Is Shingo-papa still at work?" Musha asked.

Mika only nodded slowly, listening critically.

"Then I guess you can tell him for me," Musha began, "As he probably figured out, Neo Queen Serenity was Sailor Moon. I'm sort of like that, except I'm Sailor Saturn."

"That's one of the worst—!" her mother started but Musha cut in quickly before she could get started.

"Hear me out, mother," she said and leaned back almost to sit on the kitchen counter behind her then continued, "I need to train, which is what I was doing last night and today. The other Neo Sailor Senshi and I were fighting off those monsters, called _Nobaka_. Our goal is to become strong enough to help the Sailor Senshi in the future, and we are leaving on our first short time jump this evening."

After a long pause she concluded softly, "I came to say goodbye."

Her mother, for once, stood in muted shock.

"Anyway, I should probably be heading to my room to pack," Musha said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. A she started making movements to leave her position, her mother finally spoke.

"How long will you be gone?" was her simple question.

"I honestly have no idea," she answered tensely.

Her small mother threw her arms around Musha's shoulders. "Good luck Musha," she said in a pained voice, "I'll miss you."

The ten neo senshi, now transformed, stood awkwardly in one of the huge rooms of the palace. Every one of them was nervous and none knew what to expect. Suddenly, the clicking sound of boots on marble floors broke the silence and a beautiful dark haired woman entered the room. She was rather short with dark violet eyes and long straight black hair reaching her mid back with dark violet highlights. Her outfit was a sailor fuku of violet and wine-red and in her hand was a menacing looking weapon, a tall black staff with a huge silver blade on the top: the Silence Glaive. Despite her small stature, the dark woman was very imposing. This beautiful woman, as all of the girls could guess, was Eternal Sailor Saturn.

"Sailor Aqua has already left and Sailor Blaze will not meet up with you until the next time," she started, as she paused just inside the arching doorway, "Therefore I have been put in charge of you ten. Follow me. I will take you to the time gate." She caught the younger Sailor Saturn's eyes for a moment with an expression that looked to say, 'You're not as amazing as you think.'

A few of the girls mumbled something in shock but all followed the Senshi of Revolution without a word.

Soon they were in front of a huge pair of ornate white doors with golden handles. Another senshi stepped out from the shadows. She carried a silver staff with a red orb resting on the top and wore fuku of black and burgundy.

Neo Sailor Pluto gasped quietly, "Okaasan!"

The older Sailor Pluto began loudly so all of the Neo Senshi could hear her, "This is where you leave this present time and go to another time. I will unlock the passage to the time that Sailor Cosmos instructed me to, but you still must stay together, holding hands to make sure you don't get lost. I will not be able to accompany you. Whatever you do, do not let go of each other."

The girls all nodded.

"I wish you all luck," Sailor Saturn started on a motivational speech while Sailor Pluto strode quietly over to her daughter.

"Korai-chan, I'm sorry I couldn't be home for you today," she said quietly.

Neo Pluto sighed thoughtfully, "Cosmos-sama said that you were Sailor Pluto, but she never said that this was your job."

"I had to stay late tonight to unlock it for all of you," the older woman continued, "I know I'm not around very much, Korai, but I love you very much, and I will miss you very much. Good luck."

The two senshi of time embraced for a moment then Sailor Pluto returned to the door.

"Join hands girls!" Sailor Saturn commanded as Sailor Pluto raised her time staff.

"Chronos, guardian of time, open the gate and the passages of time to these travelers!" she commanded and doors swung slowly and silently open to reveal a swirling world of nothingness.

Neo Uranus, who was at the head of the line and her sister just behind her, swallowed hard and nodded to the beautiful black-clad senshi. After one moment's more of hesitation, she walked forward and jumped into nothingness, Neptune and the other senshi following, Neo Moon being the last.

When the final senshi disappeared past the door, Pluto and Saturn each took a door and pushed them closed.

"I hope they do alright," Sailor Saturn said quietly.

"I have no doubt they will; just working together will be a challenge. There is a lot of potential in those girls," Sailor Pluto answered confidently.

"You are probably right Setsuna," Saturn agreed.


	6. Episode 6

Far From Home. The True Mission Begins.

The girls stumbled out of the swirling darkness and into the light. Hidenka, the second to exit, just after Chibi, blinked furiously and shaded her eyes. She had no idea how long they were floating around the Tower of Time, but there was no trying to guess, because there was no sense of time when you floated in it.

The salmon-haired actress oriented herself in her new surroundings as the other girls arrived. She appeared to be in a small grassy park that was very similar to one she knew to be close to the Juuban district. Of course, this being the future, there were some definite differences. There seemed to be more and bigger buildings in Crystal Tokyo. It was the same place, but it gave Hidenka a distinct alien feeling. _I wonder if this is how Cosmos-sama and Aqua-sama felt when they came to our time?_ She pondered idly.

Neo Pluto, the last senshi to stumble out into the daylight, fell into Mars as she blinked rapidly and tried to focus. The pale girl muttered her apologies and staggered off.

This turned Hidenka's attention to all of the other girls. Everything seemed completely normal, until she noticed a strange figure in their midst. The woman was tall and elegant with long red hair hanging past her waist and wore a very similar fuku to Sailor Aqua, hers being red and graced with flame symbols instead of water drops.

Hidenka found herself meeting the woman's eyes against her will. The woman's intense red eyes showed intelligence and fierce determination yet incredible weariness lurked beneath the surface. Those eyes seemed very familiar.

The woman in red strode deliberately towards Hidenka through the crowd of girls. "Welcome to the future Sailor Mars," the woman began, "We are approximately twenty years ahead of where you used to be. Feels strange doesn't it?"

Hidenka only nodded.

The woman continued, "I though time travel was interesting, but I never really liked it much. By the way, my name is Sailor Blaze. I was told to pay special attention to training you."

Mars blushed, "Why me?"

"You have the same element of powers and other abilities as I have," Blaze explained fluidly. The red-clad senshi glanced around then spoke loudly to the rest of the group, "Alright girls, I've got you grouped up in different hotels around this area. Your roommates will change with each move, but try to get alone as well as you can. Untransform and I'll finish explaining."

In a quick moment of activity, the girls returned to looking normal and had their bags ready. Producing a handful of papers, Blaze began to speak again, "Musha and Koneko, Kenjou and Asatsuyu, Norikuken and Teisei, Hidenka and Korai, and Tonda and Chibi," she listed, "Come up and get directions to your apartments from me before you leave. So as not to raise any questions or spark any memories, you can't use your normal names here. Make sure this is what you call each other. Koneko is just Mizu Neko, Tonda becomes Aijou Tongari, Norikuken will be Chi Noriko, Chibi is Aijou Chibi, Hidenka is Kaji Hoonoko, Teisei is Furuato Tei, Musha is Tsukai Keika, Kenjou is Kaiou Kenko, Asatsuyu is Kaiou Asagao, and Korai is Tokino Raiko. Please call me Hino Blaze. Also, be careful. You will get a very odd sensation in your gut every once in a while. This means that if you continue, you could change destiny by accident. Be very careful not to do this. Turn around where you are and head away from where you were going until the feeling is gone. The last thing you want to do is to run into problems like that. Understood?"

The girls nodded.

"What sort of things would we be running away from?" Tonda asked skeptically.

"For one, meeting yourself," she answered, "You cannot let that happen. There are certain other people that you could trigger bad events by, like running into friends or family members."

"One last thing before you head off," Sailor Blaze added, "Since your appearance could trigger destiny to change as you all have been seen by countless strangers, you all need to look slightly different. Concentrate on a new look for yourselves…" Suddenly there was a purple pen with a red jewel on top in Blaze's hand. She held it up and called, "Moon power, change them into students of this time!"

There was a flash of color and no one came out looking the same, except for Hino Blaze, and even she was wearing different attire, some casual street clothes. Each pair of roommates was wearing a different school uniform from that none of the girls recognized. The main differences were hair styles. Chibi and Teisei had just let down their hair and later took on a light green hair bow making her look very similar to the twin she left behind. Kenjou, Asatsuyu, and Korai took on appearances very much like their mothers with their own hair styles and Kenjou kept her bangs. Norikuken had her hair cut to jaw length with a red hair bow crowing it all, round glasses gone. Koneko had tapered bangs and her long, now smoother, hair in a high ponytail tied with a forest green bow. Among them all, Tonda, Musha, and Hidenka were the most shocking changes. Musha now had shoulder-length wavy hair with no bangs and a braid going around her head like a circlet. Tonda's sugar pink hair was now long and thick and done into a thick braid that hung to just below her knees and was tied with a large pink bow. Hidenka looked nothing like herself. She had shoulder length pigtail braids tied with small purple bows and large round glasses.

"Hidenka!" Asatsuyu gasped, "Why did you want to look like _that_?"

Hidenka laughed good-naturedly, "I don't want to look anything like the star I was. So why not be a cute little nerd?" She laughed again. Then noticed Tonda's new look. "Tonda! I didn't think you liked pink!" she exclaimed.

Tonda rolled her eyes. Her new school uniform was a nice rosy crimson color and her long pink hair made her look very girly. "If we want no one to recognize us, then, I figure, we should be as different as we can," she said, "Of course I'll have to act to match it."

"This I have to see," Norikuken laughed.

Blaze cleared her throat. "Here are your addresses and your schools. So you don't stand out, you're all transferring into those schools for a couple days while we're here. I'll be staying at the palace if you need anything and you are to meet there directly after school for training."

"So you two are sisters," the woman at the front desk asked.

Tonda cleared her throat, "Yes ma'am, we are."

"Oh how cute!" she said with a grin on her face while Tonda fought hard to suppress the need to slap her. "Alright, so Aijou Tongari and Chibi. If you have questions, come to me. And here's your keys." She handed each of the girls a small, flat, hexagonal crystal with a small computer chip in the center. Just press it into the locks and the doors will come right open for you. Enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you ma'am," Tonda said politely.

"Thank you!" Chibi echoed.

With that, the two picked up their duffels and headed up to their room. It was on the 21st floor, so the elevator ride was long. Their hotel, The Crystalline Blossom, was in the heart of Crystal Tokyo in one of the towering crystal spires. Since Crystal Tokyo had become the capital of the world, large hotels were needed to accommodate the many travelers coming through and those people moving in that had not yet found a house to move into. These were the sort of people the Neo Senshi were pretending to be.

After a minute of silence on the elevator Tonda asked, "So, Chibi, I don't remember ever seeing you before just a couple days ago. What was your life like before all this?"

The little girl shrugged, her short red-pink hair bouncing lightly, "Cosmos-sama said that she brought me with her from another time, but I don't really remember any of it. My past is just a bunch of jumbled memories."

Tonda was a little taken aback. The tiny girl was amazingly articulate for her age, however old she was. "You may have gotten hit in the head or something," Tonda suggested.

"Maybe…" Chibi agreed absently, staring out the glass window on the outside of the elevator and watching the world outside the building wiz by. "What was your life like?" she asked, still staring blankly.

Tonda, slightly unnerved, responded, "I didn't like it much. I had some good friends, but my parents were so wrapped up in their careers that I didn't see them much, and when I did, they wanted to control my life. It was really hard. My mom is Aino Minako, the idol singer and my father is Saijou Asai, a soccer star. We have lots of money, but I never let that go to my head. People always expect the daughter of two stars to be beautiful, sweet, popular, and slightly aloof. I'm here to prove them all wrong."

This time Chibi was taken aback. She never expected for the pink-haired tomboy to have reason for her icy shell. "I don't know what's better," Chibi pondered, as a soft ding signaled that the two had arrived at their floor, the doors opening. The two girls picked up their bags and walked slowly from the elevator. She continued, "not being able to remember your past or not enjoying what you remember."

Tonda shrugged, "I'm away from my parents and tiring life and you are beginning a new memory. Just live in the now."

Chibi giggled. Then pointed up to a door just down the hall. "There is is! 2109!" she exclaimed and pulled the hexagonal crystal from her pocket and hurried over to the door. She pressed the key into a hexagonal indentation just below the doorknob. The crystal glowed light pink for a moment then there was a clicking sound of the door unlocking. Tonda turned the knob and pushed the door open opening into a huge and beautiful suite of rooms of mostly white with pale wooden floors. The entire eastern wall of the main room was a huge window with a magnificent view of Crystal Tokyo. Both of the girls were too much in awe to do anything but get inside the room, drop their bags, and stare.

Musha and Koneko found themselves in a hotel out of the main downtown area of Crystal Tokyo. It was a small one, for Crystal Tokyo standards, called Silver Gateway. After receiving a small crystal with a computer chip in it, which Koneko deduced to be an advanced form of key, the pair of them rode the elevator to the seventh floor and found their room, number 711. It was not a particularly large suite, but it had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a small sitting room, and a small kitchenette with a table. The theme of the room seemed to be navy blue, and that was a color that pleased both girls.

After getting settled Musha went straight for the balcony and sat in one of the nicely cushioned chairs there, looking over the sprawling suburbs of Crystal Tokyo. A light breeze blew by her. The air smelled clean and fresh; fresher and cleaner than she had remembered in her own time. She scowled and pushed her wavy violet hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ears again. _This hair is really starting to bother me. Now I remember why I went to a braid in the first place._

Koneko, busy exploring the room, called to Musha from inside, "Hey Mu— Keika-chan!" She carefully caught herself then continued, "There's enough food here for several meals and someone left a box with some spending money in it for us. It looks like we're expected to buy some things here too."

"Oh," Musha called back, only mildly interested and slightly offended at being called 'chan', "That's good."

A few moments later, she heard the sound of the television being turned on. "_And in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!_" Koneko squealed in delight to see what program was on. "It's Eternal Sailor Moon and the story about her defeat of Galaxia!" she exclaimed as she hopped onto the bed to watch the show contently.

"Hmm," Mush responded indifferently, "That's always fun to watch. I'm surprised it's still on now." Slightly annoyed with Koneko constantly interrupting her solitude of thinking, the violet-haired girl rose from her seat and slid the glass door to the room shut with a soft click.

After returning to her seat, Musha returned to her train of thought, running her right hand idly through her newly long hair. _There has to be a reason why I'm Sailor Saturn. I know this isn't just some chance event. I just wish there was a way of telling. Too bad the legacies of the planets and their kingdoms were lost with time when Queen Beryl, her generals, and the Seven Shadows destroyed them. Although… The people of the Sun lived through it all. Maybe I'll try to contact someone there when I return to my own time. Contacting anyone now would be far too risky. For now I'll just have to ponder on it._

Meanwhile, Koneko was laying on her bed resting her chin in her cupped hands and watching the TV. "There's mother! Oh look Keika, there's Saturn!" she called, then realized that the older girl would not hear her as she had closed the door. _Antisocial, hmm?_ Re returned to watching the television peacefully. It was entertaining to her, now knowing who all of the original senshi had been. The names on the TV show were different. The character representing her mother had green eyes and straight, shoulder length blue hair. The only characters that remained the same were the Starlights and Sailor Moon. Everyone knew that it was Neo Queen Serenity that had save the planet time and time again.

Just then, Koneko's attention was drawn back to the television. This was a part she had always missed in the past. As Eternal Sailor Moon fought Chaos in the Galaxy Calderon and was loosing, a tiny figure with pinkish red hair in two pigtails and heart-shaped buns appeared by her side with a hopeful look in her sky blue eyes. There was a flash of light and an elegant woman in white appeared in the place of the tiny girl. _Chibi! Cosmos!_ _Does that mean?_

Suddenly the phone rang. Koneko rushed to get it. Pressing a button just below where the screen was mounted she asked as the picture came into view, "Hello?"

The pictured defined itself and Sailor Blaze came into view. "Neko-chan!" she exclaimed, "Just the person I was looking to talk to. Actually— I was just calling to see how you and Keika were doing. Is your room fine? Do you think you can find the school alright?"

"Um…" Koneko's mind was suddenly drawing a blank as she stared into Blaze's knowing red eyes. She glanced hurridly at her surroundings and out to Musha on the balcony. "Er… Oh, we're just fine. This is a nice room. Is that money and food for us that we found here?"

"Yes that is," Hino Blaze nodded, "Serenity had that deposited discretely at all of your rooms before you arrived. Take as much as you want. If you run out, let me know and I'll see to it that you have more. At any rate, I best get going. Nice seeing you Neko-chan." With that, the screen on the phone went blank.

Koneko pressed the button and turned off her own speakers, stopping the dial tone. She stood dumbly confused for a moment. "What was I just doing," she asked herself quietly. She thought for another moment then answered her own question uncertainly, "TV, wasn't it?" After glancing on the blank and off television, she changed her mind. "Maybe not," she said and shrugged, then wandered to the kitchenette to make a snack for herself.

Asatsuyu spun several times with her hands in the air, her long, wavy gray-blond hair twining around her arms. "This room is so perfect!" she exclaimed as she stopped spinning. She immediate result was for her to stagger into one of the beds dizzily, then bounce onto it enthusiastically. "I mean it's _so_ _huge_ and so pretty and clean. I'm sad we're only staying here a couple days. Just look how big these beds are! And that balcony! The view is great! There's _two_ computers and a huge TV. There a little kitchen with lots of food. A _huge_ bathroom and another big room. I wish our house was like this back at home!" In finishing her excited list, the younger girl flopped back on the comfortable bed. In truth, the sisters had the largest room of any of the senshi and it was almost entirely a pure, clean white color. The pureness of it invigorated Asatsuyu but slightly unnerved Kenjou. That clean white reminded her far too much of the sterile clean of the orphanage where she had spent much of her early life.

Kenjou let a small smile grace her face and she chuckled at the enthusiasm of her younger sister. "You're so funny Asagao," she responded lovingly, "I think we will enjoy our stay here." After letting out a little love, she withdrew into herself again. She found her duffel and methodically unpacked the contents in to a generously sized dresser. She had only brought a few personal things. Among them was a small photo album. Something she never allowed anyone, not even Asatsuyu, to see. In the pages was the only picture she had of her parents. She was sitting on her father's knee while her mother was holding baby Asatsuyu. It was shortly after that that their parents got into financial trouble and could no longer keep the girls. Kenjou and Asatsuyu never saw or heard from them again. Of course, Asatsuyu had no memory of the pair and Kenjou's memories were few and faint.

Once at the orphanage, adults treated the girls with caring indifference. There were anywhere between ten and thirty other children there for the five years that the pair stayed at the orphanage. Kenjou was seven when they left and Asatsuyu had just turned six.

There were several photos in the book of her and some close friends from the orphanage. Kenjou had made a few very good friends but they quickly were taken away by loving families. The friends had promised to write, but after a few letters, they started forgetting. By the time she was five and a half years old, she stopped trying to make friends or caring about anyone except her precious younger sister, who somehow seemed to maintain carefree optimism all through the ordeal. To this day, Asatsuyu was the only person she really cared for and she intended to keep it that way. She could trust the happy girl never to abandon her like everyone else eventually would.

As she placed the few items of clothing that she had brought into one of the cavernous drawers, she recalled the day when she was finally rescued from that world of superficial love. Two elegant strangers, a tall blond and a beautiful aqua-haired woman, came and toured the orphanage. The moment she met eyes with the tall blond woman, whom she had first assumed to be a man, something passed between them that could not have been anything but magical. She now could see that this had something to do with her powers of Uranus. The pair of elegant women left. A few days later they were back. This time they took Kenjou and Asatsuyu back to their home with them.

Kenjou was more than thankful for being taken away from the white prison. She thanked her new mothers once with completely sincerity while Asatsuyu spent the next several months thanking them every chance she got. Haruka, the tall blond, seemed to find Asatsuyu cute and entertaining and Michiru, the elegant aqua-haired woman, was often flattered by Asatsuyu constant thanks. This made Asatsuyu the unofficial favorite of the two. Although Kenjou appreciated her parents more than she could explain, she was too scarred by her early life to be able to truly love them back for all the love they gave her. The last photo in the book was of Kenjou, Asatsuyu, Haruka, and Michiru looking completely happy. That moment, though she forgot the reason for happiness, was one she wished she could relive over and over.

Kenjou finally finished her slow unpacking and stowed her duffel in another drawer with the photo album carefully stowed in it. The book did not have a lock, but it was well understood and respected that Kenjou did not want anyone looking in it, so no one did.

Asatsuyu could tell when her older sister needed silence, as she had for the last few minutes. When she seemed to be done wallowing in her solitude, Asatsuyu asked brightly, "Dwelling over that book again?"

Kenjou shook out of her trance, "Sorry. I know it bothers you. I really should stop."

"It's okay, if it makes you feel better, keep at it," Asatsuyu responded in a rare serious tone, "It just makes me sad to see you so sad. If only you could make some friends, you'd have a much happier life."

"I guess you're right," Kenjou submitted, silently thinking the same thoughts to herself that she always did when this subject to herself: _But I can't, because it hurts far too much when they leave me! As I know they will._

"So Tei," Norikuken began sweetly, as the pair of them stood out on their balcony fifteen stories above the streets of Crystal Tokyo. Their hotel, the _Bara no Kaen_, was located in the downtown Crystal Tokyo area, but closer to the palace than Tonda and Chibi. She continued, "You don't talk too much? Why is that?"

Teisei shrugged, "I'm not an incredibly talkative person; I'm more shy, actually."

Norikuken just laughed, "Well anyway, what do you think of the future?"

Teisei stared off into the sky line and responded neutrally, "It was very odd feeling at first, but I think I've adjusted."

"Yea," Norikuken agreed, "I felt the same way. I feel like I've aged a bit too. The future is beautiful. I can't wait until we get to live up to and through it."

A slight smile crossed Teisei's face. "If we return to our own time, that is," she corrected. "Cosmos-sama never promised that we would get out of this alive. It sounds very dangerous, so we might not."

"Stop being such a pessimist Tei!" Norikuken accused, "What you need is some ice cream. Want to go out and see if we can find an ice cream shop in this city?"

Teisei's grin widened, "I'd love to!"

Norikuken stepped back into the hotel room and off the balcony, pulling some yen out of the box of money that was left for them. "What are you waiting for?" she called in a teasing tone as Teisei slowly closed the sliding door to the balcony and walked for the door of the apartment. With that, the girls were off.

Hidenka still couldn't get over that odd feeling she kept having in the back of her mind. Korai seemed to be over the oddness of the time change, but that odd feeling was still there for Hidenka. She massaged her temples lightly with two fingers, then went back to her book.

Hidenka had figured that she would be best off to get into character with Hoonoko as quickly as possible. The best way was to start reading obsessively, but not manga or romance novels as Hidenka preferred, but science fiction or nonfiction. She never thought that her acting skills would become so useful in the real world.

All the while, that feeling in the back of her mind kept her alert and paranoid, wanting more and more to keep up her disguise. And she hadn't the foggiest idea why she was thinking this way.

Korai wasn't much for conversation, so the two girls mostly kept to themselves.

While Hidenka read, Korai spent quite a bit of time brushing and playing with her newly long hair. The dark-haired girl still couldn't get over that her mother worked so closely in the queen's service. She knew very will that that job would one day be her own. What a lonely career. That made her wonder all the more about who her father was. She had no memory of whoever he was and her mother refused to talk about anything having to do with her birth. That fact was known to very few and for a good reason. Things like that _didn't happen_ in Crystal Tokyo. Just thinking about people's reactions if they did know was enough to make her depressed.

Korai loved her mother more than anything else, but was sadly alone in the world because of her job. Since birth, she had had strange abilities that Setsuna had often commented on as 'Just like Hotaru', always making her wonder who Hotaru was. Now she knew. Hotaru was the elegant and imposing Sailor Saturn. It gave her chills to think that she would ever be like that.

Bored, overwhelmed, and too tired to get up and cross the room, she decided to exercise her infrequently used powers. She had suppressed them in the past in an effort to be 'normal', but now that she knew she was not 'normal' and could not ever be. Besides, her abilities might come in handy in battle.

She twitched her left hand lightly and her duffle lying on her bed across the room began to twitch lightly. After a bit of fidgeting, a standard-sized framed picture worked its way out and shot through the air, right for Korai's left hand, where she caught it and set it up neatly on the vanity where she had been brushing her hair.

Hidenka looked up from her reading with a very curious and startled look in her red, glasses-framed eyes. After a moment of the two girls staring at each other, Hidenka saw that Korai wasn't going to give an explanation. She asked, somewhat impatiently, "Since when could you do _that_?"

Korai shrugged and turned away, going back to brushing her hair in front of the large, curved mirror.

"No really, Raiko," the red-head insisted, her tone getting slightly sharper, "Where'd you learn to do that?" How was it that some random girl had powerful special abilities while the daughter of a powerful priestess had hardly a speck of the powers?

Korai turned back to give Hidenka a depressed and almost dead-looking gaze that stopped her questioning immediately, brush still idly in her hand. After a moment of that, which sent chills down the actress' spine, Korai returned to the mirror and Hidenka pretended to return to her reading, the strange feeling still bothering her in the back of her mind.

_No wonder people thought of Korai as weird. She's got those powers and doesn't seem to like them at all. She's completely antisocial and always depressed. What's with that girl?_

Sailor Blaze, now dresses in an elegant gown of red silk, stood leaning on the thick, white marble railings of the huge balcony attached to her rooms in the private royal suite of the palace. The red-haired woman stared thoughtfully out at Crystal Tokyo, the peaceful home she had loved long ago. She sensed a presence behind her. She knew it without even turning around.

"Something is troubling you, Rei," the Queen stated more than asked in a quiet and soothing voice.

She shook of the feelings she'd been having for a moment and turned to perform a sweeping bow to one knee for the queen. It was more for love and for the eyes of onlookers than for respect to the queen.

"Oh do get up," Neo Queen Serenity ordered impatiently, "You don't have to do that, you know."

Blaze smiled and rose, "Yes, I do know. Even though you're not the Usagi I'm used to and I'm not the Rei you're used to, we still understand each other very well."

A light smile crossed the queen's worried face, "Some people never change." The smile faded quickly, "No really, something is bothering you. Is it the future? I could train the girls if you need to be back there."

"You are needed to be a powerful figure and rule. You don't need to baby-sit the girls all the time," Blaze retorted forcefully, a strong gust of wind caught her hair and gown blowing it about her chaotically, while the queen faired the same. She waited for the gust to subside then gestured to the blond woman dressed in white, "Let's get inside, bad weather seems to be blowing in."

Neo Queen Serenity followed, wanting to be out of the cold as well. As soon as they were inside and Blaze had closed a pair of large crystal doors that protected them from the wind, the queen began again, "Stop avoiding the subject. What is bothering you?"

The red-clad woman shifted uncomfortably then took a seat in a generously padded chair that was conveniently just behind her. The Queen remained standing, becoming a very impatient and imposing figure.

"Something has gone wrong," Blaze finally admitted, staring at the floor.

Queen Serenity raised and eyebrow and still remained standing where she was, still like a statue.

"Here, I mean," Blaze continued reluctantly, "I felt the normal strange sensation when I got here, but it was stronger and more uncomfortable than normal. The feeling faded slightly but refused to go away entirely. Then I realized what it was: Chaos sent six of her minions here by tying them to me when Eternity sent me to this time and retrieved Aqua. Besides that, I know exactly which ones she sent. This does not look good at all for the girls. They are not at all safe." She finally looked up and met the concerned blue eyes of the queen who hurried over to kneel right in front of her and grasp one of her hands.

"Six? Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Chaos was willing to take out that many people from her army? You can tell that much with your powers?" she asked without stopping for breath between questions, even more worried.

"Chaos has _nineteen_ minion generals, she can spare some. But to send six and those that she did means that she really means business and has found out about our plans for reinforcements. I didn't tell you earlier because I was trying to sort out what was going on and how best to deal with it. This isn't exactly and easy subject knowing what I know," Blaze explained remorcefully, "I'm very worried about the girls. Especially Moon, Saturn, and Earth. They'll do anything to prove that one is better than the other two. That could lead to dangerous and irrational decisions on their part." She paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out how and what to say next then continued, "As to my powers, I've been alive nearly a thousand years. The peak of my purpose is coming to an end. My skills have steadily improved over time with need and the need is greatest now and will never be greater again in this lifetime."

Serenity nodded. She knew as well as her friend did that, because of who they were, they would be born again one day when they were gravely needed once again.

After a moment of though, the Queen said, "I will alert the Quartet that there is some very dangerous evil lurking the city and to watch especially for it and—"

"No one else," Blaze interrupted and finished the queen's statement, "The fewer senshi who might know the girls that are involved, the better. I have great faith and confidence in the Asteroid Senshi that nothing will slip out or cause destiny to change."

Once again, Serenity nodded, this time staying silent.

Alexandrite brushed his long, smooth green hair from away from his face, yet the wind whipped it stubbornly back out of place. _So this is was Crystal Tokyo_, he thought, _The most beautiful place in the universe._ From what he could see, it very well might be that way. His five companions had already set up an undetectable shelter and hiding place for them. If Sailor Blaze was here, as they knew to be true, she would know they were there, every last one of them. No doubt she would be worried. However, thanks to the skills of Lapis and Lazuli, their hiding place would be completely hidden even from her. Chaos chose a very effective team for him to lead. Unless some completely unforeseen consequences arose, this should be an incredibly easy mission.


	7. Episode 7

Mysterious Enemies Lurk in the Shadows. The Future Holds New Surprises.

"So," Sulfir started slowly, leaning casually on a large rock, "What do you know Alexandrite?"

"What are we to do now?" Lapis asked.

"What are your orders?" Lazuli asked as well, her voice the same as her twins. Despite being around them for quite some time, their uncanny similarities, being mirror images of each other, still made him shudder at times.

Collecting himself, he began smoothly, "Well, Blaze is definitely here as are her reinforcements. I can feel their presences; however the actual girls, as I assume them to be Sailor Senshi, themselves are masked very well so I cannot pick them out of a crowd. We need to scour the city for any unusual people that just arrived. Sneaking into the palace is risky but could be invaluable. Tourmaline, Sailor Blaze does not know you, does she?"

The pink-haired girl shook her head. "I have never seen her and she has never seen me, but she could sense me, I'm sure," Tourmaline answered softly.

"I can count on you, then, to get in and collect information?" he asked, raising a thin eyebrow.

She nodded, "I would need an appropriate disguise."

"A guard would be good," Lazuli suggested.

"Yes, a guard," Lapis echoed.

Another shiver ran down Alexandrite's spine.

"How about me?" Sulfir demanded, "What can I do?"

"You're too obtrusive Sulfir," Alexandrite answered, "Blaze would recognize you in a moment. I need you to check hotels for new arrivals within the last day. I am almost certain that the girls are not staying at the Crystal Palace." Before the blond could retort he firmly turned his attention to the twins, ignoring Sulfir's angry glare, "Lapis and Lazuli, you should stay separate from each other as the pair of you would attract attention looking so much alike. Wander the streets and look for anything unusual. Report back this evening."

"How about you? What will you be doing Alexandrite?" Sulfir asked slyly.

"I will be doing the same as Lazuli and Lapis," he answered calmly, refusing to be provoked.

"So you will be needing disguises?" Lazuli asked.

"Yes," Lapis answered then listed, "School uniform for Alexandrite, guard's uniform for Tourmaline, something business-like for Sulfir, and casual for you and I."

Sulfir grimaced as her usual uniform was replaced by a woman's sport coat and short skirt to match.

Asatsuyu and Kenjou stood quietly in front of a classroom full of girls all clothed in brown uniforms. _How boring. They could have been more creative with colors._ Asatsuyu thought idly.

At last the teacher began, "We have two new students with us today, both transferred here from the southern part of Tokyo. This is Kaiou Kenko and her sister Kaiou Asagao. Please welcome them into our class nicely." She paused and turned to the sisters, "Please sit down in those desks behind Murasaki and Sumiko."

Both Kenjou and Asatsuyu obeyed. As they situated themselves, the brunette girl Sumiko turned back to them and asked quietly, excitement dancing in her eyes, "Are you two at all related to that amazing violinist Kaiou Michiru?"

Kenjou glanced blankly at Asatsuyu, who looked nervous. The older girl answered slowly, "No, but people do tend to think that frequently. I am a fan of her music though." Beside her Asatsuyu heaved a sigh of relief.

"Kenko! Sumiko!" The teacher snapped, "Pay attention! The lesson is beginning. Now everyone take out your math books. We will start today with some work on quadratics. I would like to see all the problems on page forty-two done in fifteen minutes."

All of the girls immediately put their pencils to paper and worked away. Asatsuyu's tongue protruded from the corner of her mouth as she tried her hardest to work out the problems that were a little beyond her. Kenjou, on the other hand, knew the material from long ago and plugged through each exercise absently, her mind on other things. _Why are we in school now when we could be training? I don't understand this. It's not like anyone is out looking for us so we need to blend in…_

Hidenka sat munching on her lunch with her nose in a book. She knew better than to sit near Korai, because there were not supposed to know each other already. Quickly glancing at Korai, she noticed her fellow senshi eating with a handful of other quiet students, all scribbling on homework while they ate.

Just then, a group of chatty girls sat at Hidenka's end of the table, drawing her attention back to her own book. After settling in, one called out to her. "Hoonoko!" she said brightly, "Where did you say you were from?"

Caught off guard, she searched her brain wildly for a location, "Kobe," she said quickly, "But I've been in the Tokyo area for a while before transferring here."

"Where did you transfer from," another girl asked eagerly as she listened to her small musical player, tiny ear-speaker clipped onto her left ear.

"TA," she responded without a thought, and then regretted her answer.

"You mean that snotty other private school for girls on the other side of the city?" a third girl commented without thinking.

"Hana!" the first girl exclaimed.

"I—" Hana stuttered.

"No really," Hidenka interrupted, "It's okay. That's why I left. It wanted a school that values education more than trends." She smiled inwardly. That couldn't have been more untrue. She loved following in her mother's footsteps at TA.

"Right idea," the first girl nodded and ate some of her tempura. After swallowing, she continued, "This is one of the best girls' schools in the area. You cannot go wrong."

"As long as your parents can pay for it," a raven-haired girl called flippantly from the other end of the table.

"Hush Emi!" someone scolded, "Stop flaunting your money. It gets obnoxious."

"Aren't all of you right?" Emi retorted loftily.

"You'll get used to Emi, she's alright," the girl next to Hidenka reassured her quietly.

"Don't worry Shiori," she replied, "I don't mind people like that. I'm used to them. TA had more than enough of them."

"Hmm," she pondered, "That Tokino Raiko is new today too. How strange to get two new students in one day. I wonder where she is from."

"I heard Hokkaido," Hana suggested, "She doesn't talk much in my class at all."

"Where in Hokkaido?"

"I'm not sure."

"It's really cold up there, isn't it?"

"Noriko!" the teacher scolded, "Just because this is your first day does not mean you can be disruptive. Leave Tei alone, as I can see she wants to be a good student even if you do not.

"Yes Asami-sensei," Norikiken answered grudgingly.

As soon as they reached partner work time, the brunette immediately buddied up with Teisei, pushing her desk up to the green-haired girl's.

Not looking at the brunette, Teisei started, "You know, I didn't know you very well before we moved. Why are you suddenly so friendly?"

"It's..." Norikuken started slowly, searching for words, "It is so refreshing to see a familiar face."

"You should be making other friends," Teisei retorted dully, pulling out the worksheet they were to work on, not that they really had to anyway.

"But I'm afraid I won't be able to," she protested, also taking out her work, "Besides, I hardly know you."

Teisei groaned inwardly. Her comrade did not seem to understand that they had to act out of character so as to blend in. It was odd for two transfer students to know each other.

"Anyway, this worksheet," she started, turning her attention on their work. Unlike Teisei who had not covered the material before, Norikiken flew through the assignment then dictated quietly to Teisei.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," the younger girls said in a low voice once Norikiken had finished, "We wouldn't have to do any of this if we didn't want to."

"I don't see any reason for Blaze-sama to put us in schools for now, other than keeping our skills up," she shrugged, "So we might as well make the best of it. I helped you because it's pointless to make you struggle over something you have no chance of knowing."

Teisei grinned, "Thanks then!"

The pair proceeded to chat quietly about their favorite musicians from their past in low voices so none of the other students would suspect that the pair was not from their time.

"Neko-chan!" Musha grumbled as she peered up from her book, "Could you stop humming that It is really hard to work with you doing that."

"Oh," Koneko said and stopped, "Gomen."

A moment later she started humming absently again.

"Neko!" Musha snapped, closing her book abruptly to glare hard at the mint-haired girl.

"Keika-chan," a girl near them by the name of Unagi said sweetly as Koneko ceased her humming again, "Take it easy on her, she is just as new to this school as you are."

Mush grumbled and flipped her book open again, reading and ignoring them.

"So Neko-chan," Unagi started calmly, "What were you humming again? It sounded vaguely familiar."

"C'est la Vie, by Aino Minako," Koneko answered in her soft, sweet voice.

"C'est la Vie?" a boy near them blurted, "That song is _old_."

"Can it Yosuke!" Unagi scolded, the boy smirked and returned to his work, "I really like that song too. Aino Minako is great, even if she isn't super popular any more."

"Yea," Koneko said regretfully. _She isn't?_ As her mind wandered, she heard a door shut into the hallway and footsteps echoing down it. Koneko absently listened to the noise as an odd feeling welled up in her chest.

"You know, Ryo Amiko, what I need to talk to you about," an authoritative voice of a male teacher echoed down the hallway.

The feeling in Koneko's chest worsened as she comprehended what she heard. _Amiko? She transferred here?_

The teacher continued, "You have been--"

Koneko immediately covered her ears as the throbbing in her chest increased to an unbearable level. Only after the sound was completely shut out, did the feeling begin to recede. After it was completely gone, she lowered her hands from her ears.

"Neko-chan?" Unagi asked, "What was that about?"

"Um," she stammered then lied, "I heard and odd buzzing in my ears and I thought covering them might help."

"Oh?" Yosuke asked confused.

Mush shot her a suspicious glare.

Tonda exited the school at the end of the day to find Chibi already there waiting for her.

When she met up with the smaller girl and they began to walk together, she absently tugged a the rose-colored collar of her shirt. "I need to get out of this uniform," she whined, "It is so feminine and _pink_."

Chibi didn't respond, she only struck up a new topic. "You look different than yesterday," she observed.

"What?" Tonda stammered.

"You look maybe a year older than you did yesterday," she clarified quietly, "It might be the time travel."

"You don't look any older," Tonda argued, "I can't believe it would only be me."

"Just look at the others at the meeting tonight," Chibi suggested, "I'm sure at least someone else had the same thing happen."

"Maybe..." she pondered, "I still find it hard to believe."

"This is all hard to believe," Chibi observed as they halted at a bust stop, waiting for a bus to take them back to their hotel before they proceeded to the Crystal Palace.

By the corner of the building behind them, an inconspicuous woman with sparkling blue hair and amber eyes watched them, trying to catch their conversation. These two somehow interested her.

After a quiet dinner off in an obscure corner of the Crystal Palace, Sailor Blaze found yet another inconspicuous place for the girls to spar in. While transformed they looked completely different than their disguised selves.

When the ten girls were tired and worn out for the night, the red soldier from the future spoke loudly, "Unfortunately, things are not as simple as we thought."

The girls silenced immediately and turned their attention to Sailor Blaze.

"We have company," she said slowly, "but do not let that unnerve you too much, and do not go looking for them. They are dangerous and none of you yet have the power to face them. Be on your guard, but do not try to battle them. I fear their goal is to kill you all before you get to the future."

"They're from the future?" Mercury blurted.

"We're not supposed to be worried?" Uranus muttered.

"Who are they?" Neptune asked.

"How did they get here? Have they found us?" Earth asked slowly and suspiciously over the other questions.

Sailor Blaze sighed inwardly but did her best to appear confident, "Yes, they are from the future, they followed me to this time. They are some of Chaos' top minions, yet they do not know exactly where you are or who you are yet, so do your best to fit in. For no reason, however, should you seek any of them out."

"Not yet at least," Sailor Saturn commented.

Blaze ignored her and continued, "That being said, get yourselves back to your hotels as inconspicuously as you can."

Each girl returned to her disguised appearance and trickled from the hall. Before Sailor Mars could do the same, Blaze called to her, "Hidenka, come over here for a moment."

The salmon-haired girl nodded and walked slowly towards the woman.

"Is your sixth sense still weak?" Sailor Blaze asked flatly.

Casting her eyes to the ground, she nodded.

Blaze sighed, "As I feared. You absolutely much improve your sense. This new threat of Chaos' generals requires your skills more than anything before. I will not be here with you much longer so you need to be able to watch for them, never off guard."

"But I can't," Mars protested.

"Yes you can," Sailor Blaze answered firmly, "You have not fine-tuned your skills yet. Meditate at least an hour each day in your free time. Practice."

The girl nodded shamefully, still staring at her shoes.

"Now get back to your hotel," she concluded.

Sailor Mars quickly un-transformed and slunk back to her hotel.


	8. Episode 8

The Masquerade Continues. First Encounters with Enemies!

Three days had passed with the girls continuing to attend school each day. Between school and their training each evening, they were left with little energy for their free time. Hidenka flopped down on her bed, exhausted, after another hard day of training. Korai followed her into the room shortly after, sitting stiffly on the end of her own bed. She sighed quietly.

"Hino-san," she started quietly, "What do you think of these 'enemies' we keep hearing about? I mean, we have not seen a single one or even caught a sign of them."

Hidenka groaned, "Some times I wonder if these 'enemies' are just a reason to scare us into being obedient, and staying in school."

Korai nodded thoughtfully, "Aijou-san mentioned something like that when we were sparring. She said something like that she wanted to prove that they were just making all this up."

"I'd like to too," Hidenka agreed, "But how can we?"

After a short silence, Korai added, "Don't you have the sixth sense? Wouldn't you be able to tell if they were around or not?"

"Well," Hidenka stammered, "I should be able to, but..."

"But what?" Korai asked.

"But I'm not very good at it, my sense isn't strong," she grudgingly admitted.

"Is there anything to make it stronger?" Korai persisted, "It could be very useful in the future."

"Yes," Hidenka sighed, "Blaze wants me meditating at least an hour a day."

"I have not seen you doing that," Korai observed.

"I'm always too tired to do it after sparring and I have no time otherwise," Hidenka whined from where she lay sprawled out on her bed.

"Excuses," Korai said coldly, "We need you to have your sixth sense. This is not just for you; it's for all of us. Do you want this mission to succeed or not?"

Not responding, Hidenka groaned and sat up in her bed. She got up and walked over to the window, where she sat down on the floor. Before closing her eyes, she said firmly, "Don't disturb me until an hour has passed."

Silence followed.

"I can't _believe_ this!" Musha ranted, pacing outside the doors to their hotel, "We get worked harder and longer than ever tonight then we get locked out of our hotel! What kind of place locks up when it still has guests out anyway?"

"I guess we could go back to the palace and try to stay the night there," Koneko suggested.

"I know we could, Neko-chan," Musha said, still fuming and pacing, "But wouldn't that be a bit conspicuous?"

"As if our training there isn't conspicuous," Koneko pointed out.

Musha sighed, "Do we have any other option?"

"I don't think so," Koneko said softly, "Maybe we should just head back now. They'll let us stay there for sure."

"And in the morning," Musha said angrily, "I'll come back and chew them out. What kind of place is this anyway?"

Koneko giggled, "Let's get going."

So the two started off down the dark streets, which were still occupied by light crowds of people, other late travelers.

"I'm so tired," Musha complained as they walked, "Let's take a bus."

"There aren't any going there this time of night," Koneko pointed out, "We'll have to walk."

Just then, a blond businesswoman stepped out of the shadows. Although she was dressed professionally, her messy blond hair hardly fit the outfit. "Where are you two headed this time of night?" she asked.

Musha answered first as Koneko opened her mouth to speak, "To a family friend's house. We were locked out of our hotel."

"Why coming back so late?" the woman persisted.

"We had a late night cram school session followed by a study session for our test tomorrow," Koneko lied.

"Oh, good girls," the woman said, smiling, "Which hotel are you staying in?"

"The Silver Gateway," Musha responded.

"You know," the woman said, "I was just there, chatting with the managers. It should be open now. They must have accidentally locked the doors while we were talking."

"Oh," Musha said awkwardly, "Thank you."

"Any time!" the woman said a she hurried off into the shadows again.

The pair turned around and walked back towards their small hotel.

"That was lucky," Koneko observed.

"That was _odd_," Musha disagreed, "While I'm glad we can get to our rooms now, there was something about that woman..."

"Mother always says, 'don't talk to strangers'," Koneko said sweetly, "You're just being paranoid with all these warnings we have been getting lately."

"I suppose you're right," Musha sighed as they reached their hotel.

Sure enough, the worker at the front desk at returned. She pressed a button on the wall and the doors slid open, admitting the pair.

Before Musha could get angry with the receptionist, Koneko gently pushed her towards the elevator saying, "Thank you. Have a nice night!"

Sulfir, in the guise of a businesswoman, strode down the streets, stopping at yet another smaller hotel. "_Bara_ Inn," she mused to herself, noting its name on her clipboard above the empty lines for any new check-ins from the past few days. She moved towards the doors, which slid open automatically in front of her.

"Can I help you?" the small receptionist asked almost immediately when Sulfir entered.

"No one else down here in the lobby?" Sulfir observed.

"Pardon?" the receptionist asked.

"I'm here to," Sulfir paused, making up a lie, "To inspect the facilities here. I am from the," she paused again, "Public Safety Department."

"I was unaware of such an appointment," the woman responded curtly, "I shall have to contact the manager before you can take a look around."

"You really shouldn't do that," Sulfir advised with a smile.

"What do you—?" she started.

Before she could finish her statement, Sulfir pulled down the sleeves of her sport-coat revealing a matching pair of golden bracelets set with yellow stones. With a laugh, she aimed them at the receptionist and released their energy.

The poor woman took in a sharp breath in surprise but fainted too quickly to scream. She toppled off her chair and landed on the granite-tiled floor with a soft thud.

"It's too easy," Sulfir laughed and moved behind her desk, pushing the woman out of her way with her foot. The disguised woman rummaged through the papers and pamphlets on the desk until she found what she was looking for: the guestlog. She flipped it open and paged to the most recent entries. "Six new ones?" she said to herself, writing their names on her notes in her nearly illegible scrawling hand.

She laughed and strode confidently out of the building, "This is a much simpler job than I thought!"

Kenjou walked over to their small fridge, glass in hand, and opened the freezer. She groaned, setting the glass down on the counter near by. "Asatsuyu, we're out of ice again," she called to her sister, "Want to go down to get some more with me?"

"Sure!" Asatsuyu said, bouncing in from the other room. She already had their ice bucket in hand. "The ice machine is down in the lobby, right?"

Kenjou nodded. And the two headed out of the room and down the elevator.

"I don't know how much more of this I can handle," Asatsuyu whined, "I'm always so tired and school is so hard. I'm not used to this material."

"Yea," Kenjou agreed, "If we are always this tired, how will we fight in the final battle? But then again, we might need this much training."

"But school!" Asatsuyu whined as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open.

Kenjou immediately made for the ice machine, Asatsuyu sulking after her with the bucket. The younger girl handed the bucket to Kenjou, who promptly held it under the ice chute, which ice proceeded to cascade down from.

Suddenly, Asatsuyu gasped, hurrying over to the main desk. "Ma'am?" she asked urgently, "Are you all right? Ma'am?"

Kenjou turned around to look as well. The receptionist lay sprawled out on the floor behind the long desk. Forgetting the ice, she hurried over to the woman. Kneeling down beside her, she placed two fingers on the woman's neck. "She's still breathing and alive," Kenjou observed, "But what—"

The woman groaned and stirred. A few moments later, she opened her eyes and asked groggily, "What happened?"

As Kenjou helped her up, she responded, "You might have fainted."

"Odd," the receptionist commented, "I can't think of any reason why that would have happened."

"You're sure you're okay," Asatsuyu asked, concerned.

The woman nodded unsteadily, "Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you though."

Suddenly, Kenjou gasped, "The ice!" She dashed over to the machine and snatched the bucket from beneath the spout and the sensors, ice spilling out all over the floor.

"Oh no!" Asatsuyu exclaimed, hurrying over to clean it up.

Glancing down at her guestlog open on the table, the receptionist looked confused, "I don't remember having this out... Oh! Don't worry about that spill. It's okay. I will have someone clean it up. You two look like you need some rest. Get to bed."

Kenjou nodded, holding on to the ice bucked, "Thank you, and good night."

"My pleasure," the woman said, yawning.

Asatsuyu bowed politely and retreated to the elevator, Kenjou following. Once on and ascending to their floor, Asatsuyu observed, "That was weird. What could have happened with her?"

"She probably just fainted," Kenjou shrugged.

Teisei lay on her bed, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. _When I agreed to this, I had no idea it would be like this. I have never been so exhausted. I wish we would have days off once in a while. It seems like Blaze-sama wants us to practice even harder on weekends. While I was happy to get rid of _juku_, this is much worse._ She sighed.

"What's the matter Tei-chan?" Norikuken asked from her portion of the room, "Worried about those villains?"

"Not really," she answered softly, "It's just that I'm so tired."

"Aren't we all?" Norikuken responded flatly.

Suddenly, the phone rang shrilly, lights flashing on the monitor. The words "Crystalline Blossom Hotel" lit up on the screen. Teisei launched herself out of bed and across the room towards the phone pressing the 'on' button, the ringing ceased and Chibi's face appeared before her.

"Tei! I knew I would find you there!" she exclaimed, looking worried.

"What's the matter Chibi-chan?" Teisei asked.

"It's Ton— err, Tongari. She's disappeared," Chibi panicked, "I think she went looking for them, to prove Blaze-sama wrong."

"Oh no," Norikuken moaned from across the room.

"I'll be right over," Teisei assured her, "We can look for her together."

"Thank you Tei-chan!" Chibi exclaimed, "I knew I could count on you!" The screen became black and Chibi faded from view.

Teisei nodded, determination in her green eyes, and returned to her bed where she sat to put on her shoes. She had been too tired to undress after their training.

Norikuken hesitated thoughtfully then declared, "You're not going anywhere without me." She paused to bend down and retrieve her own shoes, "I can't let you travel alone at night, especially with the threat of those generals from the future."

"I guess you're right," the green-haired girl nodded, "But we can't waste any time."

"Fine," Norikuken nodded, and headed for the door.

A short walk, a bus ride, and a slightly longer walk brought them to Chibi and Tonda's hotel. Teisei smiled at the receptionist then led her companion up the elevator, directly to their friends' room. She knocked on the door and Chibi quickly answered.

"You're here," she exclaimed, "Great!" The tiny girl closed the door behind her, which locked automatically. "Let's go," She urged.

Norikuken patted her on the head, "Good to see you Chibi."

She glared up at the brunette but did not respond. _Quit treating me as less than you!_

"How long ago did she leave?" Teisei asked.

"Just after we got back," Chibi answered, "From what she was saying, I think she was going away from the palace."

Teisei nodded.

As they headed down the elevator, Norikuken asked, "Tei-chan, how did you know your way here so well?"

"She walks me home sometimes, when Blaze-sama holds Tongari after to lecture her on teamwork," Chibi answered for her.

"I can't believe I haven't notice that before," Norikuken mumbled.

"That reminds me," Teisei started as they exited the elevator, "Chibi-chan, did you tell Blaze-sama about this?"

She shook her head, "I guess I forgot to,"

Teisei walked over to the front desk. After hesitating a moment, she asked, "Excuse me, ma'am?"

"Yes?"

"May I use your phone?" she asked politely.

The receptionist nodded and pointed to a small monitor behind the desk, "As long as you keep it short."

"Thank you," Teisei nodded and hurried behind the desk.

"And no video calls," she added, "The headset for private calls is below it."

Teisei nodded again, "Thank you." She slipped the earpiece over her ear and the thin tube-like microphone hung down below her mouth. Plugging it into the monitor, she dialed the number.

"Crystal Palace, Hino Blaze speaking," a familiar voice sounded in her ear.

"Blaze-sama! We have a problem."

"Tei?"

"Hai!"

"What's the matter?"

"Tongari has disappeared. Chibi thinks she went looking for _them_."

"Haven't I told her over and over again—!"

"Noriko, Chibi, and I are going out to search for her."

"I will come and find you and then Tongari. I will be able to sense your presences, so don't wait for me. Thank you Tei. Ja ne!"

"Ja!"

Teisei took off the headset and returned it to its place.

"So?" Norikuken asked impatiently.

"She will come and find us, and help," she explained.

"Let's go!" Chibi urged and hurried for the door, the other two following.

Tonda walked purposefully along the streets, bright advertising signs lighting her way. She held her fists clenched. _I'll prove to her, and to all of them, than there isn't any danger. Then we won't have to waste our time at school any more. If they were so worried about the battle in the future, we should be training all day. Most of all, I wish they would tell us more! Why keep us in the dark?_

Suddenly, she found herself alone on a dark and empty side street. She paused, surveying the street warily. She had not been paying attention to where she had been going and now was in a place she did not recognize. Despite that, she kept moving. Now, more than ever, she had to keep looking.

Tourmaline purposefully strode about the Crystal Palace, as any guard going someplace would do. So far, after several hours of blending in, she had heard nothing of interest from the people at the palace. She decided it was time to risk entering the royal quarters of the palace.

Just when the petite woman thought she had taken a wrong turn, she heard voiced around the corner. Tourmaline stopped and listened hard, forgetting her guardly posture.

"Blaze-san sure left in a hurry."

"She said there was some urgent trouble with the girls."

"I think it was Aino-san's daughter, she ran off."

"What kind of idiot is she?"

"One that doesn't heed warnings."

"Blaze-san knows what she is talking about."

"Hold on a second..."

Tourmaline heard footsteps coming towards her. She quickly straightened up, standing professionally. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a tall and thing girl, in her mid-twenties, with and odd and tall red ponytail that almost reminded her of a circus performer.

"I don't remember seeing a guard stationed here before," the girl said to herself, but loud enough for Tourmaline to hear. "You there!" she called, "Are you supposed to be here?"

"Hai!" Tourmaline nodded stiffly.

The girl walked over to her, red eyes scanning Tourmaline from head to toe. Meanwhile, three other girls peered out from around the corner; one with pink hair, one with green hair, and the smallest with blue hair, all in exotic styles. "Show me your identification," the red-haired girl ordered.

Tourmaline looked frantically over her uniform for something like an ID card. After a moment, she stammered, "I can't find it."

"As I thought," the girl smirked, "You're not a guard at all! Vesta Power, Makeup!"

The other girls chorused in, "Ceres Power, Makeup!"

"Pallas Power, Makeup!"

"Juno Power, Makeup!"

Tourmaline found herself surrounded by four Sailor Senshi. _These aren't the ones we are looking for._ Fearfully, she looked over all of them. "Sayonara!" she said, then suddenly disappeared from the palace.

Sailor Ceres, who had just been preparing to attack, stumbled forward. "That must have been one of the enemies Blaze-san was warning us about."

"I wonder how much she heard," Sailor Juno pondered.

"That was weird though," Sailor Pallas commented

"Security has to be tighter now," Sailor Vesta reminded them, "We can't allow them to kill the girls."

Juno, Pallas, and Ceres all nodded in agreement.

Alexandrite prowled in the shadows, still wearing his navy blue school uniform. _Not much longer and there will be anyone on the street worth watching. I begin to wonder how the others did. If we find them soon, before they are strong, killing them will be easy. What have we here?_ A girl with light pink hair in a long, thick braid marched determinedly around the corner. He watched her from his dark nook. It was odd to see a girl of 15 wandering the streets alone at this time of night, but Alexandrite sense nothing unusual about her.

Just before she moved out of sight around another street corner, three more girls hurried into the alley. "I thought I just saw her go—" a girl with medium-length green hair said.

"There she is!" A taller brunette girl called.

"Tonda!" the smallest girl called, "You can't go off like this! It's dangerous at night!"

"Tonda!" the green-haired girl called again when the lone girl made no response. She broke into a run after her, the two others following.

_Interesting. Now I really do wonder what that girl was up to. Tonda..._ He stored the name in his mind. Once they had all disappeared from sight, he abandoned his dark corner and walked casually after them. Just before reaching the end of the alley, he froze. "Sailor Blaze," he murmured softly. Instantly, his school uniform disappeared, replaced by his outfit of green and fuchsia.

"Alexandrite," Hino Blaze murmured from where she sat in the back of the large palace car. She looked out through the dark windows. No sign of him, but she knew he was near. She gasped, "The girls are close by too! I hope—" _The worst thing they could do is transform in front of him..._ She called to the front, "Driver! Stop. Let me out here."

"Yes Lady," came the driver's answer, and the car came to an abrupt halt. There was no traffic in this district at this time of night, so it was not a problem. As she stepped out onto the sidewalk and closed the door behind her, she said, "Thank you." The driver nodded and drove away.

Ducking into an alley, she raised her hand and yelled, "Mars Cosmic Power, Makeup!" A moment later, she had become Sailor Blaze and was running down the dark alley, in the direction that her sense told her.

Teisei finally caught up with Tonda and grabbed her arm. "Tonda! What do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

Tonda shook off the smaller girl's grasp and replied in a harsh whisper, "I'm not Tonda, remember?"

"Right, sorry," Teisei apologized quickly.

"You can't be out here like this," Chibi reminded her, struggling to keep up, "Let's go back home."

"Why are you so worried?" Tonda asked coldly, "I don't believe that we're in danger."

"I don't care what you believe," Norikuken snapped, "But there are other dangers too. Gangs?" Criminals? I want no more of your bravado! Let's go." She snatched Tonda's wrist and began to drag her back in the direction they had come. Suddenly, she stopped and gasped.

A longhaired, caped figure advanced calmly down the street towards them.

"Criminal..." Chibi gulped quietly. Instinctively, the girls huddled closely together.

"What might you girls be doing out so late at night," he asked, chuckling, "alone?"

"She," Teisei stammered fearfully, "She was running away. We wanted to stop her."

"Oh?" he asked, advancing still further.

Meanwhile, Norikuken calculated their possible courses of action. This was obviously one of the villains Sailor Blaze had spoken of, or maybe some other dangerous person. They could turn and run, but that would do little good if he had a gun or magical attacks. They could henshin, but they were weak and tired. Then he would know who his targets to kill were. Also a bad idea. They could yell for help, but who would hear them?

"I don't know who you are," Tonda said angrily, "But I don't like you. Leave us alone!"

"We don't have any money," Chibi bravely declared, pretending not to understand who he was, "There's nothing worth stealing."

Alexandrite chuckled. _If they are the reinforcements, they will transform very soon. They will see they are in danger. Maybe they need some encouragement?_ He raised his hands in front of him, jeweled bracelets towards the girls, "Chaotic Force!" Green and pink energy shot through the darkness.

The four girls shrieked and dove away from the attack's path. Teisei wrapped one arm around Chibi as she leapt out of the way, protecting their leader. Norikuken landed near Tonda, who reached into her pocket for her henshin pen. Norikuken quickly swatted her hand away. "Don't!" she hissed.

Just then, they hared hurried footsteps coming towards them through the darkness. Sailor Blaze burst out of a side street, putting herself between the four girls and Alexandrite. Her entrance startled everyone, and not a single person moved.

"Alexandrite! How dare you!" Sailor Blaze panted, leaning on her long staff, "Do you find terrorizing young, innocent, Crystal Tokyo girls to be fun? I don't even want to _think_ about what you planned to do with them."

"Sailor Blaze," Alexandrite responded with forced calm, "fancy seeing you here." He slowly moved his braceleted arms into position, hoping his enemy would not notice. _Destroying _her_ would be wonderful too._

"Don't play coy with me!" she threatened, then saw his plan, "Ruby Inferno!"

Alexandrite found himself engulfed in flames, screaming with pain. With a flourish of his cape, he disappeared.

Sailor Blaze scowled. _He got away!_ Turning to the girls and casting a particularly harsh glare on Tonda, she said, "Don't be out at night. Now go home."


	9. Episode 9

New Arrivals Bring new Lessons. Keep Practicing!

_-Do not forget your duty to the group…-_

Hidenka woke with a start in the predawn stillness. Korai's steady breathing told her that there was no reason to be up yet. "Blaze-sama?" she whispered. Somehow, something felt different to her weak sixth sense. Was Sailor Blaze gone? _6:04 AM_ glowed in red on her bed-site clock. She sighed and stretched. No point in going back to sleep now. Ignoring her messy hair, she rose then seated herself on the floor. With a few deep breaths, she fell into a meditative trance.

Tonda stalked through the Crystal Palace corridors with a scowl wrought on her face. Late. She recalled their brutal training from the evening before and dreaded this one to come.

"_So you think you know more than I do? You think you are strong enough on your own?" Sailor Blaze scolded. "Try me! Just try me!"_

"_What do you mean?" Sailor Venus stammered defiantly._

"_I mean that you're not sparring with any of them today, Venus, you're sparring with _me_," she answered with a malicious smile. "Prove me wrong. Now, watch girls."_

_Sailor Venus swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped forward towards her instructor while the other nine girls gathered in a circle around them. Sailor Blaze raised an eyebrow, waiting for the game to start._

_Hesitating for a moment, the pink-haired soldier finally attacked, "Venus Blast of Ob—!"_

_Sailor Blaze easily stopped her by taking her feet out from under her with a quick swipe of her staff._

_Several of the girls stifled laughs as Venus tumbled to the ground. Angrily picking herself back up, she kicked at Sailor Blaze, who moved easily out of the way, smacking Sailor Venus with her staff again._

_And so it continued._

_Through the seemingly endless battle, Sailor Venus was never once able to land a single attack on the older senshi._

She stormed noisily into the room and was immediately greeted with and unfamiliar voice deeper than any of their trainers before, "Late." A tall soldier dressed in all green with emerald green eyes and hair, which was tied in a high ponytail. Her outfit was of the same style as Sailor Blaze and Sailor Aqua before her, featuring lightning bolts as her symbol.

"Who are—?" Tonda stammered, stopping short.

"I'm Sailor Thunder, your new teacher. For being late, you're running four laps of this hall," she ordered. "Then I'll pair you up for sparring."

Just as Tonda panted to a halt next to the tall senshi, Sailor Juno clattered into the room. Immediately, all eyes were on her. "Monsters," she said quickly, "There are monsters all over the city. We think they arrived with you, Thunder-sama."

Sailor Thunder grimaced and her green eyes darkened. "Well girls," she started with a smile, "I think we have a new exercise for you!"

"Excellent work," Sulfir sneered, "That horde of _nobaka_ that you brought in with Sailor Thunder will keep them busy for a while."

"Not only keep them busy," Alexandrite amended casually from where he perched on his straight-back chair, "but it will weaken them, let them drop their guard, and—"

"And force them to henshin," Lapis, he thought, finished his thought for him. Or— it could have been Lazuli, for all Alexandrite could tell.

"And so we wait a little while?" the other echoed eerily.

Alexandrite fought back a shiver and nodded, "Yes, we wait. But in the mean time, we continue prowling the city. Maybe we can catch one when she is not transformed. That will be when they are weakest."

"We had a lead," Tourmaline began softly, "I can't help but think that what I heard and what Alexandrite saw were somehow related."

"And that Sailor Blaze got in the way," Alexandrite fumed, clenching his fists.

"Go after those girls then!" Sulfir urged.

"We can't afford to," Alexandrite argued, regaining his calm, "If we misjudge, we'll have the police after us too. There are a few other Sailor Soldiers lurking around the city, and we never know when they will appear. We cannot attack and destroy any girls until we are certain that we found the right ones." He paused then asked, "Sulfir, did you have any record of anyone named Tonda checking in to any hotels?"

"I would have to check for you," the yellow-haired woman said slowly as she rapidly leafed through the notepad on the tall stool beside her. She shook her head with frustration, "No, nothing. I see no Tonda."

"The search continues," Tourmaline said.

"You will need disguises then?" one of the twins asked.

Alexandrite nodded slowly, "Something that would not look out of place in an educational environment. Something that we can reuse easily. We need to build characters. No more guards this time. They have barred us from the grounds of the Crystal Palace."

"It will be done," the other said with a sly smile and glance at her sister.

"Mars Flame Pillars!" Sailor Mars shrieked, her voice going hoarse. The tall columns of fire briefly lit up the night before colliding with the shadow creature and disappearing. She paused briefly, having defeated a _nobaka_, and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. _While pretty, tiaras are terribly uncomfortable when I'm sweating this much._

"Mars!" she heard Sailor Mercury yelp, "Behind you!"

She heard the hiss of the _nobaka_ powering up behind her almost immediately. It was too close. Before she could turn around and face it, Sailor Moon yelled, "Moon Beam Ricochet!"

With a screech, the creature vaporized.

Sailor Neptune screeched in pain as she tripped over the curb and twisted her ankle, trying to escape a group of four _nobaka_ that had slipped past the group.

"Asatsuyu!" Sailor Uranus gasped, glancing worriedly over at her younger sister. The _nobaka _she had been battling with took the brief moment of distraction to grasp the chain of her Space Blades and entangle her in it, pulling her close. Just as she realized her own peril, the creature blasted her with a force that sent her skidding across the pavement. Between the blast and the impact with the ground, the tangled soldier lay unconscious.

As a few more _nobaka_ advanced on the fallen senshi, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Earth quickly moved into place around her. Meanwhile, Asatsuyu scrambled backwards across the sidewalk, her pursuers following slowly and menacingly. Sailor Moon hurried over towards her. "Sailor Venus, help me!" she cried, preparing to attack again.

"Can't!" she choked out, backing into a corner herself, surrounded by the shadow creatures.

"Moon Beam Ricochet!" Sailor Moon attacked the _nobaka_ advancing on Neptune.

"Venus Blast of Obsession!" she yelled and one of the creatures in front of her was destroyed, only to be replaced by another. Gasping for breath and fighting off the urge to fall asleep on the spot, she called hoarsely, "Sailor Thunder! We can't hold out much longer! Where are you?" She quickly followed it with "Venus Blast of Obsession!"

"Earth Life Circle!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, Sailor Thunder appeared. Raising her staff in the air, she called, "Emerald Storm!" Green lightning surged through the air with a loud crack. All but five of the _nobaka_ disappeared, shrieking loudly. "Finish them off," she ordered.

Wearily, the senshi still standing obeyed. Sailor Pluto was the first to act. "Pluto Eternal Mists!" As mist emitted from her staff they heard one shriek.

"Idiot!" Venus cursed, "Now we can't see any of them until your fog clears."

Neptune yelped involuntarily as something brushed up against her and hissed. She swung blindly at it with her Aqua Rods, hearing a loud crack and a moan.

"She found one!" Saturn exclaimed.

"One found her," Earth corrected darkly.

"Silver Blast Obliterate!" Sailor Saturn called, sending a silver wave of energy towards the source of the noise.

"Wait!" their leader called, but too late.

Both Neptune and the _nobaka_ screamed. The creature disappeared and the girl fainted.

"Wait for the fog to clear," Sailor Jupiter urged wearily.

Saturn fidgeted nervously but held her ground.

Hearing a hiss in front of her, Venus attacked blindly, "Venus Blast of Obsession!"

"Wait!" Sailor Moon reminded again.

This time, however, the attack met its mark.

"Two left," Saturn mused quietly.

A moment later, the mist finally did disperse. Sailor Earth and Sailor Saturn immediately sprung into action.

"Silver Blast Obliterate!"

"Earth Life Circle!"

Finally, the area was cleared.

"How did you expect us to defeat so many like that, tired like this," Venus asked accusingly.

"Just look at those two," Sailor Earth added, gesturing to the sisters.

"Children," Sailor Thunder began slowly, "This is not just some training exercise. This is a real battle. I have always been near by, making sure that you were safe enough and making sure that no other areas were greatly threatened. This, however, is the best kind of training: real experience. Most of the battles that you will have in the future; you will be tired, weak, and hurting. You must learn to battle even then."

"And we're expected to go to school tomorrow?" Jupiter asked.

"Yes you are," Sailor Thunder nodded slowly, "Go home discretely, and get some rest. Take it easy in school tomorrow. I will recruit the princess and her guardians to fight through the night while I take Neptune and Uranus back home. We should have the city cleaned out in a few days with all of our efforts."

With a nervous glance at Kenjou and Asatsuyu, both of whom had lost their transformation when fainting, Sailor Moon asked, "So we are dismissed?"

She nodded again, "Yes, you may go."

Teisei hurried between classes in a daze. She still had not gotten used to switching classrooms and classmates for each class yet. Staying with the same class like she used to at Juuban was so much less stressful. On top of it, she had gotten less than six hours of sleep the night before. Norikuken had classes on the other end of the building at this time in the morning, so they did not see each other until lunch.

As she edged between two groups of chatting girls and darted quickly around a corner, Teisei found herself colliding with someone much bigger than her. She tumbled to the ground, spilling her book bag.

"Oh!" she said and frantically tried to pick up her fallen things, "I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's alright," the boy she ran into answered, his voice was deep and smooth. "I wasn't either," he chuckled and extended a hand down towards Teisei, "Here, let me help you up."

Teisei got her first look at the older student when she took his hand and stood up. He must have been just under a foot taller than her and at least three years older. He had emerald green eyes and perfectly smooth hair of a slightly darker color tied in a low ponytail. She found herself blushing slightly and tried to hide it. "Thanks," she said quietly and averted her eyes downward. _He certainly is beautiful._

"Any time," he responded casually, "My name is Aoi Kouseki. What's yours?"

"I'm Furuato Tei," she answered shyly, almost responding with her full name, "I just transferred her from Sendai." She now always claimed to be from Sendai when asked. She could fake the accent well enough.

"Funny," he chuckled, "I just transferred from Kyoto. Today's my first day."

"Really?" she asked politely the glanced at her watch, "Well, I really aught to get to class, it being my first month here and all. Nice meeting you Aoi-san!" She hurried away and to her first classroom as fast as she could. There was something about Kouseki, other than that she found him quite attractive, that tapped at the back of her mind.

Musha and Koneko never walked home together, yet always seemed to meet each other two blocks from their hotel. Like the rest of the senshi, they were careful not to associate themselves with a group. As Musha caught sight of Koneko coming towards her from the other direction, she smiled slightly in greeting. The younger girl returned the gesture, but nothing more was exchanged. Although Musha and Koneko were vastly different people, over the past few weeks, the pair had begun grow closer to each other.

The purple-haired girl bluntly navigated through a cluster of noisy shoppers to where she met Koneko at the door. "Not much time until _Jyukku _today, is there?" Koneko commented as they went inside, using their code name for training.

"It's just getting earlier and more often," Musha replied, heaving a tired sigh as they headed for the elevator. "We still have to do our best if we want to be ready for the final test."

"I'm just so tired," Koneko said softly and their conversation faded into silence as the rode the elevator to their floor.

A few minutes later, after having deposited their book bags and changing into more comfortable clothes, the pair silently descended the elevator again. As soon as the doors slid open, however, a scream split the air.

"_Nobaka_," Musha hissed, "back on the elevator."

"Oh!" Koneko said in surprise as she pressed the door-close button, "I think I forgot my jacket upstairs."

The doors slid closed.

"Saturn Power, Makeup!"

"Mercury Power, Makeup!"

Sailor Mercury punched the door button again and the two dashed out between the slow sliding doors. Sailor Saturn breathed a short sigh of relief to see that the lobby was emptied of even the receptionist. Meanwhile, at least twelve _nobaka_ attacked civilians just outside of the door, blocking traffic.

Before leaving the building, Saturn sized up the situation and instructed her companion, "We need to draw them away from this center of activity."

Koneko nodded, "And disassociate ourselves with this hotel. Ready?"

"As ever," Saturn replied with a grin and raised her sword.

With that, they plunged through the doorway and into the fight.

"Saturn Silver Blast Obliterate!"

"Mercury Ice Blizzard!"

The attacks caught both the civilians and the _nobaka _off-guard. Three of the creatures disappeared screaming while the rest stood stunned for a moment, measuring up their attackers. Meanwhile, the pedestrians came to their senses more quickly and ran away from the scene of the battle as quickly as they could.

"There's a side street to the right," Mercury observed.

While the _nobaka_ slowly advanced on their new prey, Saturn replied, "Go for it."

The green-haired senshi quickly dashed down the sidewalk towards her chosen side street, attracting the _nobaka's_ attention. She quickly spun on her heels and attacked, "Mercury Ice Blizzard!"

The foremost creature shrieked and disintegrated. This time, instead of standing stunned, the shadow creatures swarmed forward towards her. She ran for the alleyway, avoiding their angry blasts.

Saturn screamed after them, "Saturn Silver Blast Obliterate!" One from the back of the pack disappeared.

_We need to keep them surprised to win this alone,_ she thought as she followed after them, slicing down on another with her sword.

Once she felt sure that all of the shadows creatures had followed her into the empty street, Sailor Mercury turned and attacked again, "Mercury Ice Blizzard!"

The _nobaka_ stood trapped between two senshi in a narrow side street. The only way of escape was to fight their way past one of them, and so they tried. The cornered creatures were far more dangerous than either girl expected. Quickly, they found themselves loosing.

"Mercury Ice Blizzard!" the smaller girl shrieked, "We can't win this now! What do we do?"

"Hope they send help," Saturn shouted back, "Sailor Thunder! Where are you?" She screamed as her tired body was unable to avoid one of the _nobaka's_ blasts.

From somewhere above them, they heard cackling. Mercury yelped and danced backwards, away from the grasp of a shadowy hand and hazarded a glance upward. She gasped. Perched on a windowsill just one story up was a woman wearing an odd outfit of black and blue flecked with gold. Her hair, a similar gold-flecked blue color, was clipped in a high ponytail and her amber eyes held a look of amusement. "Who—?" she stammered, then danced out of the way of another swipe at her and attacked, "Mercury Ice Blizzard." While the attack startled the _nobaka_ into backing off, it missed.

Saturn's eyes snapped up to the window as well as she brought down her Silence Sword in a deadly slice. The creature shrieked for a moment then disappeared as well. "Who are you?" she demanded, finishing for Mercury.

The petite woman ignored her question, "Those pretty _nobaka_ don't seem to need my help. Sailor Thunder is tied up at the moment, so don't hope for her to come along to rescue you." She laughed again.

"You're one of those—" she broke off in a scream as the blast from two _nobaka _knocked her off her feet.

"Mercury!" Saturn shrieked. With several more quick slices of her blade, she fought her way towards her companion.

The woman smiled and slid of the ledge, leaping down to the street. She slowly strode towards the scrambling senshi. "Well, dearie," she said sweetly, "You'll be the first to go."

Mercury's eyes widened. The _nobaka_ and the strange woman drew ever closer. On each wrist, the woman had a gold cuff decorated with a gold-flecked blue stone. As she paused and raised them, the girl had a sudden feeling that the beautiful bracelets were terrible weapons. _I can't believe this is the end already! What would my mother think of me? This has only just begun…_

The woman chuckled and her smile broadened.

"Mercury, no!" Saturn screamed, pushing past the shadow creatures and ignoring the pain as they clawed at her. Without thinking, she threw her Silence Sword at the woman. When she realized what she had done, she gasped and reached after it, but it was too late. _That is my only weapon!_

By some strange luck, the blade of the sword struck the woman just below one of the bracelets. She shrieked and grasped at her arm, hissing with pain. The sword clattered to rest at Sailor Mercury's feet.

"Run!" Saturn yelled. She waited only long enough to see her friend grasp the silver weapon and scramble to her feet in the moment of distraction. As soon as she saw her run off down the alley at top speed, Sailor Saturn turned and did the same in the opposite direction.

"Damn you, Sailor Senshi!" she woman shrieked, fire in her eyes. Blood dripped freely from her arm, covering her hand that clutched the wound. "I _will_ find you!"

Though her muscles screamed, Sailor Saturn ran on towards the safety of the Crystal Palace. There, nothing could harm them with the new shields up. As Sailor Blaze had proven to them earlier, they could not handle the villains that were out to get them on their own. Fleeing was the only choice. Koneko was smart enough to pick up the Silence Sword. She was certainly smart enough to head for the Crystal Palace via her own route.

Clutching the hilt of the silence sword tightly in her left hand, Sailor Mercury ran a meandering path of back streets towards the Crystal Palace. Every once and a while, she glanced over her shoulder to be sure that she was not being followed. Their hotel was located farthest from the Palace of all of the lodgings of the girls. Although adrenaline rushed through her veins, she knew that her body could not hold of the fatigue and true terror of her situation for much longer. _I have never run this far before… I just have to make it, for my life!_

As she ran, avoiding civilians and groups of _nobaka_, the edges of her vision began to close in. Shaking her head roughly, she focused harder on her goal and pushed herself harder. _Stay clear!_ she reminded herself.

Around another corner she heard the hungry shrieks of _nobaka._ As she veered her path, she heard other voices:

"Mars Flame Pillars!"

"Vesta Flames Blaster!"

_The others!_ she thought weakly, and veered again. A few more labored strides brought her into view of the battle.

"Earth Life Circle!"

"Sailor Mercury!" Mars exclaimed, "You're safe!"

"Juno Riotous Cry!" Sailor Juno finished off the two _nobaka_ that had advanced on Mars while she was distracted. Only a few more remained.

"Where is Sailor Saturn?" Pluto asked, pausing for a moment as well.

"She—," she stammered weakly, the edges of her vision gradually closing in again, "We ran…"

"She doesn't look well," Ceres commented to Pallas, before they finished off the last few _nobaka_. "Ceres Beauty Blossom!"

"Pallas Raining Splash!"

Shrieking, the last of their group of shadow creatures disappeared as a sudden burst of water and shining flower petals descended on their heads.

Sailor Earth rushed over to Mercury. "Thunder-sama said that you were in trouble," she asked quickly, "what happened?"

"There were too many _nobaka,_ then a woman in blue…" she trailed off, her words slurring. Finally her vision blacked out completely and her knees gave out. She collapsed to the ground unconscious, warn out and terrified. The Silence Sword clattered free of her iron grip.

Earth yelped in surprise, "Mercury!"

Sailor Ceres stepped into action. "She needs a bed, water, and some medical attention quickly," she said firmly. "Juno, can you carry her?"

The tall soldier nodded and strode over to where Koneko lay limp on the ground. Grunting under her weight, she swung the small girl over her shoulders and stood up.

"And Vesta, take the weapon, you know how to carry it properly," she ordered.

"Right," the red-haired senshi nodded and gingerly picked up the sword.

Hidenka stared at it nervously. "Why do you think she had the Silence Sword? I hope Sailor Saturn is alright."

Pluto nodded, "Me too."

"Alright troops," Ceres said, "let's move on out!"

"Back to the Crystal Palace!" Pallas added, as they hurried off. The palace was not far.

"Going somewhere?" a sing-song voice asked.

Sailor Moon whirled around, looking for the source of the voice.

"What is it?" Venus asked quietly, pausing and scanning the shadowy street with her tiny leader.

A woman dressed in an odd outfit of black and gold-flecked blue stepped out of the shadows with a sly smile on her face. Her high ponytail, the same color as her outfit, cast eerie shadows on her face in the waning sunlight. "No, girls, I don't think you're going anywhere now," she said, chuckling.

"She's one of _them_," Sailor Moon hissed. "We can't fight her!"

The taller senshi took a firm hold of her companion's hand and said slowly, "No, I think you're wrong on that one." She hesitated for a moment while the woman gave her a humored look, eyebrow raised. Suddenly, she took of at a sprint, dragging Moon with her.

"You won't get away that easy," the woman laughed and took off after them, aiming her bracelets as she went.

"Sailor Thunder!" Venus screamed, "Help us!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, the green-clad senshi appeared from a side street, skidding to a halt between her charges and their pursuer. "Emerald Thunderbolt!" she cried and green lightning darted from her staff to the woman. The villain herself yelped and dove out of the way of the attack.

"Sailor Thunder," she growled as she rose to her feet, "What are you doing here? I thought that Tourmaline and Sulfir were keeping you busy."

"Yes, that they _were_, Lazuli," Sailor Thunder said firmly. To Sailor Moon and Venus, she whispered over her shoulder, "Stick close to me, girls."

The pair hesitantly obeyed, hiding behind the tall senshi's cape.

"It's Lapis," she corrected, "Lazuli is having some fun with some of your other girls at the moment."

Sailor Thunder stiffened, obviously torn. Finally, she said, "And _you_ are to leave these two alone."

"Or?" Lapis asked, aligning her bracelets again.

"Girls! Emerald Thunderbolt!" she commanded and attacked.

Venus and Moon did not hesitate to come out of hiding and attack as well.

"Moon Beam Ricochet!"

"Venus Blast of Obsession!"

The attacks met their mark with a loud explosion and blast of light. The two younger senshi found themselves cowering behind Sailor Thunder's cape again to shield their eyes.

Lapis screamed in agony. Just as the light faded, she rasped, "Don't think I'll forget about this!" and disappeared in a flash of her own blue light.

"We need to get back to the Crystal Palace, and put you where you're safest for now while we figure out where everyone else is," Sailor Thunder said urgently and burst into a run.

"What was that about?" Venus asked as they ran along behind her.

"Lapis and Lazuli are twins, and extremely dangerous," she explained, "I don't know anyone who can tell the difference, except by Blaze's sixth sense. It appears that they are trying to wear you out with _nobaka_ and tie me up so I can't help you. They mean to kill you as soon as possible."

Both Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus shuddered. They ran the remainder of the distance to the Crystal Palace in silence. After clattering up the long white-marble steps Sailor Pallas immediately greeted them in the doorway.

"Good, you're back safe," she said humorlessly, odd for her, "and bringing Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus with you."

"Pallas," Thunder panted urgently, "What can you tell me of what is going on?"

"We were fighting along side of Pluto, Earth, and Mars. Just as we defeated a group of _nobaka_ Mercury stumbled into our midst carrying the Silence sword, muttering something about a woman in blue and collapsed, so we brought her back here," Pallas listed, clearly shaken.

"And Sailor Saturn?" Sailor Venus asked quickly.

"She just arrived and is resting in the sick wing with Neptune and Uranus, Eternal Sailor Saturn is watching over them," Pallas explained.

All three of them breathed a sigh of relief and began to walk into the Crystal Palace, Pallas leading the way to where the others waited.

Suddenly, Sailor Moon paused, counting something on her fingers. She looked up at Sailor Thunder and Sailor Pallas, asking simply, "Where's Jupiter?"

Sailor Thunder paled.

Teisei walked briskly from school as the sun threatened to set in the sky. "I can't believe that Tomoko-senshi would make me stay after that long for a simple little orientation," she grumbled to herself, "now I don't even have time to go home before—"

"Tei?" a masculine voice called from behind her.

She paused and looked over her shoulder to see Aoi Kouseki just exiting the building. "Aoi-san?" she asked politely, "What kept you after so late?"

"A sort of personal 'new student orientation' with my homeroom teacher," he said, catching up with her, "And now I must return the question: why are you here so late?"

Teisei laughed nervously, "About the same reason. I guess they have a certain time of month to do this."

"Where are you headed to? I might be going somewhere near," Kouseki asked.

"It's fairly far away, near the center of the city" Teisei replied, gesturing vaguely. _I can't have anyone following me to the Crystal Palace!_ "I'm going straight to _Jyuuku_, and it's a long ways away."

"Well then, I guess—" he began to protest when several _nobaka_ appeared, pursuing a group of screaming students. Kouseki immediately stepped protectively closer to her and grasped her hands. He then pulled her into the nearest shop, a watch store.

Teisei feigned panic, "What are those things?"

"I don't know," Kouseki said slowly, deep in thought.

"Whatever they are," the store owner commented from behind the counter, "They're all over the city and all over the news. But apparently the police can't do a thing. I did hear that there are Sailor Senshi out there fighting, but no one seems to know who they are."

"That's comforting," the green-haired boy nodded then turned to Teisei, "Tei, you can't walk out in that. It's dangerous."

"But I need to get to _Jyuuku_ or mother will never forgive me, with that big exam tomorrow," Teisei protested, acting scared.

"Fine then," he said, frustrated, "I'll get a cab for you."

"You don't have to—" before she could finish, Kouseki had left the store and waved down one of the silver cabs. She scurried out after him.

When she arrived at the curb, he said, "Now you can travel there safely."

"Thank you Aoi-san," she said quietly, "I suppose I shall be seeing you tomorrow?"

"Don't think anything of it," he replied with a smile, "See you tomorrow Tei." With that, he ushered her into the car and shut the door.

"Where to miss?" the cab driver asked.

"Crystal Academy," she responded, praying that her old cram school near the Crystal Palace was still open. _I have enough money along for that, at least._

"Alright," he responded and shifted the car into gear, "This might take a little longer, avoiding those shadow things."

_Once I get to Crystal Academy, I can transform and head for the Crystal Palace. I hope they aren't worried about me…_

Kouseki watched the cab drive off and around a corner and gave himself a mental slap. _Why am I wasting so much valuable time at that school? Having the image to fit in is important, but not nearly so much as killing those reinforcements. I suppose it's all part of the deal…_


End file.
